tantek
commented
8 years ago Proposal based on existing experience and behaviors, add the following text as a new section in the spec, after the "test suite" section:
== change control == Minor editorial changes (e.g. fixing minor typos or punctuation) that do not change and preferably clarify the structure and existing intended meaning may be done by anyone without filing issues, requiring only a sufficient "Summary" description field entry for the edit. More than minor but still purely editorial changes may be made by an editor. Questioning any such editorial change may be undone without filing an issue. Any further reversion or iteration on such an editorial change must be done by filing an issue.
Per the stable status of this document, substantive issue filing, resolution, and edits are done with the following change control steps, which may nearly all be done asynchronously once an issue is filed to reach the required state of "Resolve by implementation verified rough consensus". All steps should be openly documented (e.g. on this wiki or GitHub issues) such that others may later verify the history of an issue, and all steps are encouraged to be announced on #microformats [[IRC]] with a link to the issue.
- '''File an issue.''' Anyone may file a new [[microformats2-parsing-issues|issue]] and is encouraged to do so, with the caveat that per the stable status, only issues originating as a result of implementation experience are likely to have a substantive impact on this specification.
- '''Propose a resolution.''' Anyone may propose resolutions to existing issues, and should encourage others in the community, especially implementers, to provide feedback. Proposed resolutions should include what specific text of the spec needs changing, preferably with replacement text, and test cases if applicable (e.g. a resolution could just document the current state more precisely without needing to provide any new test cases).
- '''Provide feedback on proposed resolution(s).''' Anyone may provide feedback on proposed resolutions with their name attached, in summary (e.g. +1/0/-1 opinions), and additionally with reasoning (required for objections, optional otherwise), or optionally with suggested improvements, or counter-proposals (per "Propose a resolution" above).
- '''Iterate to resolve objections if any.''' If there are any objections to a proposed resolution, proposer(s) and anyone agreeing should work to iterate on the proposal to resolve objections to the satisfaction (or at least withdrawal of objection) of anyone objecting. The more objections resolved the better, and incremental progress is forward progress.
- '''Broaden implementer consensus.''' Proposer(s) and anyone agreeing should reach out (e.g. via #microformats [[IRC]]) to multiple implementers of the specification to get their opinions and feedback on proposal(s). The more implementers providing feedback the better. Iterate to resolve any new objections per "Iterate to resolve objections if any" above.
- '''Encourage and get 1+ implementation(s).''' Encourage, get, and document 1+ implementation(s) of implementation affecting aspects of a proposed resolution, preferably with a test case if applicable.
- '''Resolve by implementation verified rough consensus.''' Once there is rough consensus on a proposal (i.e. either no objections, or at a minimum no objections by implementers, and explicit positive opinions by 2+ implementers) and a proposal's feasibility is verified by at least 1 implementation of aspects of the proposal that affect implementations (none needed if there are none, e.g. purely editorial), cite those in a "Resolution:" statement on the issue (e.g. in a comment), and explicitly share this resolution statement and link to issue in the #microformats [[IRC]] channel.
- '''Edit specification.''' Normally the spec editor(s) will make edits per implementation verified rough consensus resolutions, however anyone (though especially issue discussion participants) may make a specification edit per a resolution if they are able to verify the citations that the resolution has achieve rough consensus, and has 1+ implementation(s) per "Encourage and get 1+ implementation(s)" above. Edits must contain a "Summary" field entry that at a minimum mention the issue by name, should provide a URL to the issue resolution, and preferably be done by a spec editor or an implementer. Once the edit is made, the issue should be closed, or at least a comment made on the issue requesting that the opener of the issue close the issue.
These change control steps are inspired by the tradition of "Rough consensus and running code" as exhibited by example by IETF and W3C processes, and in that regard, seek to be a philosophically compatible approach to specification iteration. They have been in rough practice since 2015-01-21, increasingly strictly applied since then with consensus of issue discussion participants, and explicitly documented based on issue resolving and spec editing experience.
kevinmarks
benwerd
aaronpk
Per request from W3C, as a condition of normative referencing, the specification must link to or document explicitly how change control is done.