Travel often brings unexpected opportunities, but usually, those involve finding a hidden pub or a great local coffee shop. However, during a recent layover at Dublin Airport (DUB) on the way to an open-source conference, I found myself doing something entirely different: becoming a Wikipedia contributor.
The Boredom of a Long Layover
It started as many travel stories do—with a several-hour gap between flights and a laptop with a decent Wi-Fi connection. While researching some local landmarks in Dublin to pass the time, I noticed a significant gap in a Wikipedia entry related to a local historical site.
As someone deeply involved in the Fedora Project and the philosophy of open source, the “see a bug, fix a bug” mentality kicked in. I realized I had enough sources and time to turn a “stub” into a proper, informative page.
From Layover to Contribution
The process was surprisingly addictive. What began as a small edit turned into a full-scale writing session. I spent the next three hours:
- Researching: Verifying local historical dates and figures.
- Structuring: Organizing the page to meet Wikipedia’s stringent formatting standards.
- Citing: Ensuring every claim was backed by reliable sources.
By the time my flight was called for boarding, the page was live. I hadn’t just killed time; I had contributed to the world’s largest repository of human knowledge.
Why Community Stories Matter
This experience reminded me of the core tenets we discuss in the Linux and Open Source communities. Contribution isn’t always about lines of code in a kernel; it’s about the shared responsibility to improve the resources we all use.
Whether it’s documentation for a new Fedora release or a Wikipedia page about a corner of Dublin, the act of contributing is what keeps the internet’s “commons” healthy.
Note from 2026: This post remains a favorite in our archives as a reminder that inspiration can strike anywhere—even in the crowded terminals of Dublin Airport. It also marks a period of great collaboration with friends like Justin W. Flory, whose own travel and open-source stories continue to inspire the community.
