diff --git a/docs/faq.md b/docs/faq.md
index 63695c87..ea73b848 100644
--- a/docs/faq.md
+++ b/docs/faq.md
@@ -9,6 +9,52 @@ I wanted a next generation config management solution that didn't have all of
 the design flaws or limitations that the current generation of tools do, and no
 tool existed!
 
+### How do I contribute to the project if I don't know `golang`?
+
+There are many different ways you can contribute to the project. They can be
+broadly divided into two main categories:
+
+1. With contributions written in `golang`
+2. With contributions _not_ written in `golang`
+
+If you do not know `golang`, and have no desire to learn, you can still
+contribute to mgmt by using it, testing it, writing docs, or even just by
+telling your friends about it. If you don't mind some coding, learning about the
+[mgmt language](https://purpleidea.com/blog/2018/02/05/mgmt-configuration-language/)
+might be an enjoyable experience for you. It is a small [DSL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_language)
+and not a general purpose programming language, and you might find it more fun
+than what you're typically used to. One of the reasons the mgmt author got into
+writing automation modules, was because he found it much more fun to build with
+a higher level DSL, than in a general purpose programming language.
+
+If you do not know `golang`, and would like to learn, are a beginner and want to
+improve your skills, or want to gain some great interdisciplinary systems
+engineering knowledge around a cool automation project, we're happy to mentor
+you. Here are some pre-requisites steps which we recommend:
+
+1. Make sure you have a somewhat recent GNU/Linux environment to hack on. A
+recent [Fedora](https://getfedora.org/) or [Debian](https://www.debian.org/)
+environment is recommended. Developing, testing, and contributing on `macOS` or
+`Windows` will be either more difficult or impossible.
+2. Ensure that you're mildly comfortable with the basics of using `git`. You can
+find a number of tutorials online.
+3. Spend between four to six hours with the [golang tour](https://tour.golang.org/).
+Skip over the longer problems, but try and get a solid overview of everything.
+If you forget something, you can always go back and repeat those parts.
+4. Connect to our [#mgmtconfig](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#mgmtconfig)
+IRC channel on the [Freenode](https://freenode.net/) network. You can use any
+IRC client that you'd like, but the [hosted web portal](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#mgmtconfig)
+will suffice if you don't know what else to use.
+5. Now it's time to try and starting writing a patch! We have tagged a bunch of
+[open issues as #mgmtlove](https://github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Amgmtlove)
+for new users to have somewhere to get involved. Look through them to see if
+something interests you. If you find one, let us know you're working on it by
+leaving a comment in the ticket. We'll be around to answer questions in the IRC
+channel, and to create new issues if there wasn't something that fit your
+interests. When you submit a patch, we'll review it and give you some feedback.
+Over time, we hope you'll learn a lot while supporting the project! Now get
+hacking!
+
 ### Is this project ready for production?
 
 Compared to some existing automation tools out there, mgmt is a relatively new
diff --git a/docs/resource-guide.md b/docs/resource-guide.md
index 2dc3cc09..aa27eb2c 100644
--- a/docs/resource-guide.md
+++ b/docs/resource-guide.md
@@ -578,6 +578,47 @@ will likely require a language that can expose a C-like API, such as `python` or
 `ruby`. Custom `golang` resources are already possible when using mgmt as a lib.
 Higher level resource collections will be possible once the `mgmt` DSL is ready.
 
+### Why does the resource API have `CheckApply` instead of two separate methods?
+
+In an early version we actually had both "parts" as separate methods, namely:
+`StateOK` (Check) and `Apply`, but the [decision](58f41eddd9c06b183f889f15d7c97af81b0331cc)
+was made to merge the two into a single method. There are two reasons for this:
+
+1. Many situations would involve the engine running both `Check` and `Apply`. If
+the resource needed to share some state (for efficiency purposes) between the
+two calls, this is much more difficult. A common example is that a resource
+might want to open a connection to `dbus` or `http` to do resource state testing
+and applying. If the methods are combined, there's no need to open and close
+them twice. A counter argument might be that you could open the connection in
+`Init`, and close it in `Close`, however you might not want that open for the
+full lifetime of the resource if you only change state occasionally.
+2. Suppose you came up with a really good reason why you wanted the two methods
+to be separate. It turns out that the current `CheckApply` can wrap this easily.
+It would look approximately like this:
+
+```golang
+func (obj *FooRes) CheckApply(apply bool) (bool, error) {
+	// my private split implementation of check and apply
+	if c, err := obj.check(); err != nil {
+		return false, err // we errored
+	} else if c {
+		return true, nil // state was good!
+	}
+
+	if !apply {
+		return false, nil // state needs fixing, but apply is false
+	}
+
+	err := obj.apply() // errors if failure or unable to apply
+
+	return false, err // always return false, with an optional error
+}
+```
+
+Feel free to use this pattern if you're convinced it's necessary. Alternatively,
+if you think I got the `Res` API wrong and you have an improvement, please let
+us know!
+
 ### What new resource primitives need writing?
 
 There are still many ideas for new resources that haven't been written yet. If