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doc: describe the project's decision-making process

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The Git project currently operates according to an informal
consensus-building process, which is currently described in the
SubmittingPatches document. However, that focuses on small/medium-scale
patch series. For larger-scale decisions, the process is not as well
described. Document what to expect so that we have something concrete to
help inform newcomers to the project.

This document explicitly does not aim to impose a formal process to
decision-making, nor to change pre-existing norms. Its only aim is to
describe how the project currently operates today.

Helped-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Signed-off-by: Josh Steadmon <steadmon@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
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Josh Steadmon 2024-05-17 13:35:44 -07:00 committed by Junio C Hamano
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commit c82df70818
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Documentation/DecisionMaking.txt Normal file
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Decision-Making Process in the Git Project
==========================================
Introduction
------------
This document describes the current decision-making process in the Git
project. It is a descriptive rather than prescriptive doc; that is, we want to
describe how things work in practice rather than explicitly recommending any
particular process or changes to the current process.
Here we document how the project makes decisions for discussions
(with or without patches), in scale larger than an individual patch
series (which is fully covered by the SubmittingPatches document).
Larger Discussions (with patches)
---------------------------------
As with discussions on an individual patch series, starting a larger-scale
discussion often begins by sending a patch or series to the list. This might
take the form of an initial design doc, with implementation following in later
iterations of the series (for example,
link:https://lore.kernel.org/git/0169ce6fb9ccafc089b74ae406db0d1a8ff8ac65.1688165272.git.steadmon@google.com/[adding unit tests] or
link:https://lore.kernel.org/git/20200420235310.94493-1-emilyshaffer@google.com/[config-based hooks]),
or it might include a full implementation from the beginning.
In either case, discussion progresses the same way for an individual patch series,
until consensus is reached or the topic is dropped.
Larger Discussions (without patches)
------------------------------------
Occasionally, larger discussions might occur without an associated patch series.
These may be very large-scale technical decisions that are beyond the scope of
even a single large patch series, or they may be more open-ended,
policy-oriented discussions (examples:
link:https://lore.kernel.org/git/ZZ77NQkSuiRxRDwt@nand.local/[introducing Rust]
or link:https://lore.kernel.org/git/YHofmWcIAidkvJiD@google.com/[improving submodule UX]).
In either case, discussion progresses as described above for general patch series.
For larger discussions without a patch series or other concrete implementation,
it may be hard to judge when consensus has been reached, as there are not any
official guidelines. If discussion stalls at this point, it may be helpful to
restart discussion with an RFC patch series (such as a partial, unfinished
implementation or proof of concept) that can be more easily debated.
When consensus is reached that it is a good idea, the original
proposer is expected to coordinate the effort to make it happen,
with help from others who were involved in the discussion, as
needed.
For decisions that require code changes, it is often the case that the original
proposer will follow up with a patch series, although it is also common for
other interested parties to provide an implementation (or parts of the
implementation, for very large changes).
For non-technical decisions such as community norms or processes, it is up to
the community as a whole to implement and sustain agreed-upon changes.
The project leadership committe (PLC) may help the implementation of
policy decisions.
Other Discussion Venues
-----------------------
Occasionally decision proposals are presented off-list, e.g. at the semi-regular
Contributors' Summit. While higher-bandwidth face-to-face discussion is often
useful for quickly reaching consensus among attendees, generally we expect to
summarize the discussion in notes that can later be presented on-list. For an
example, see the thread
link:https://lore.kernel.org/git/AC2EB721-2979-43FD-922D-C5076A57F24B@jramsay.com.au/[Notes
from Git Contributor Summit, Los Angeles (April 5, 2020)] by James Ramsay.
We prefer that "official" discussion happens on the list so that the full
community has opportunity to engage in discussion. This also means that the
mailing list archives contain a more-or-less complete history of project
discussions and decisions.

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@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ SP_ARTICLES += howto/coordinate-embargoed-releases
API_DOCS = $(patsubst %.txt,%,$(filter-out technical/api-index-skel.txt technical/api-index.txt, $(wildcard technical/api-*.txt)))
SP_ARTICLES += $(API_DOCS)
TECH_DOCS += DecisionMaking
TECH_DOCS += ReviewingGuidelines
TECH_DOCS += MyFirstContribution
TECH_DOCS += MyFirstObjectWalk