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SIP-5069: SIP Editor Handbook

Organizational structure, decision making process, and other SIP Editor odds and ends.

Authors Pooja Ranjan (@poojaranjan), Gavin John (@Pandapip1), Sam Wilson (@SamWilsn), et al.
Created 2022-05-02
Discussion Link https://sila-magicians.org/t/pr-5069-sip-editor-handbook/9137
Requires SIP-1

Table of Contents

Introduction

We, the Sila Improvement Proposal (SIP) Editors, maintain a repository of documents related to the Sila protocol and its ecosystem. Consider us both archivists making sure the community as a whole does not lose its history, and a publisher making sure interested parties can stay up-to-date with the latest proposals.

Mission

What we Do

Our mission is to serve the broad Sila community, both present and future, by:

  • Publishing Proposals: Making proposals, including their history and associated discussions available over the long term at no cost.

    By doing so, we foster transparency and ensure that valuable insights from past proposals are accessible for future decision-making and learning.

  • Facilitating Discussion: Providing a forum for discussing proposals open to anyone who wants to participate civilly.

    By encouraging open dialogue and collaboration, we aim to harness the collective knowledge and expertise of the Sila community in shaping proposals.

  • Upholding Quality: Upholding a measure of minimally-subjective quality for each proposal as defined by its target audience.

    By adhering to defined criteria, we promote the development of high-quality and relevant proposals that drive the evolution of Sila.

What we Don’t

On the other hand, we do not:

  • Decide Winners: If there are multiple competing proposals, we will publish all of them. We are not in the business of deciding what is the right path for Sila, nor do we believe that there is One True Way to satisfy a need.

  • Assert Correctness: While we might offer technical feedback from time to time, we are not experts nor do we vet every proposal in depth. Publishing a proposal is not an endorsement or a statement of technical soundness.

  • Manage: We do not track implementation status, schedule work, or set fork dates or contents.

  • Track Registries: We want all proposals to eventually become immutable, but a registry will never get there if anyone can keep adding items. To be clear, exhaustive and/or static lists are fine.
  • Provide Legal Advice: Trademarks, copyrights, patents, prior art, and other legal matters are the responsibility of authors and implementers, not SIP Editors. We are not lawyers, and while we may occasionally make comments touching on these areas, we cannot guarantee any measure of correctness.

Documenting all of the things we would not do is impossible, and the above are just a few examples. We reserve the right to do less work whenever possible!

Structure

SIP Editors

We, the Editors, consist of some number of SIP Editors and one Keeper of Consensus (or just Keeper for short) elected by and from the SIP Editors.

SIP Editors are responsible for governing the SIP process itself, electing a Keeper, and stewarding proposals.

The Keeper’s two responsibilities (on top of their SIP Editor duties) are: to determine when rough consensus has been reached on a matter, and determine when/if it is appropriate to re-open an already settled matter.

Membership

Anyone may apply to join as an SIP Editor. Specific eligibility requirements are left to individual current SIP Editors, but the general requirements are:

  • A strong belief in the above mission;
  • Proficiency with English (both written and spoken);
  • Reading and critiquing SIPs;
  • Participation in governance.

SIP Editors are expected to meet these requirements throughout their tenure, and not doing so is grounds for removal. Any member may delegate some or all of their responsibilities/powers to tools and/or to other people.

Making Decisions

Informally

For decisions that are unlikely to be controversial—especially for decisions affecting a single proposal—an SIP Editor may choose whatever option they deem appropriate in accordance with our mission.

Formally

Electing a Keeper, adding/removing SIP Editors, and any possibly-controversial decisions must all be made using variations of this formal process.

Preparation

Call for Input

For any matter requiring a decision, a call for input must be published in writing to the usual channels frequented by SIP Editors.

Quorum

Within thirty days of the call for input, to establish a valid quorum, all SIP Editors must express their opinion, vote (where appropriate), or lack thereof on the matter under consideration.

After thirty days from the call for input, if not all SIP Editors have responded, the quorum is reduced to the Editors that have responded. This deadline may be extended in exceptional situations.

Deciding

Electing a Keeper of Consensus

Any SIP Editor can call for an election for Keeper. Business continues as usual while the election is running. The SIP Editor with the most votes once quorum is met is named Keeper until the next election completes. If there is a tie, we’ll randomly choose between the SIP Editors with the most votes, using a fair and agreed upon method (for example, a coin toss over a video call or a commit/reveal game of rock paper scissors.)

Adding an SIP Editor

An SIP Editor is added once quorum is met, provided the candidate consents and no current SIP Editor objects.

Removing an SIP Editor

An SIP Editor is involuntarily retired once quorum is met, provided no current SIP Editor (aside from the one being removed) objects. An SIP Editor may voluntarily leave their position at any time.

If the departing Editor was also the Keeper, an election for a new Keeper begins immediately.

Other Decisions

All other decisions are made through a “rough consensus” process. This does not require all SIP Editors to agree, although this is preferred. In general, the dominant view of the Editors shall prevail. Dominance, in this process, is not determined by persistence or volume but rather a more general sense of agreement. Note that 51% does not mean “rough consensus” has been reached, and 99% is better than rough. It is up to the Keeper to determine if rough consensus has been reached. Every SIP Editor is entitled to have their opinion heard and understood before the Keeper makes that determination.

No one, not the SIP Editors and certainly not the Keeper, holds veto powers (except when adding/removing an Editor as defined above.) It is imperative that the SIP process evolve, albeit cautiously.

This section has been adapted from RFC 2418.

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

Citation

Please cite this document as:

Pooja Ranjan (@poojaranjan), Gavin John (@Pandapip1), Sam Wilson (@SamWilsn), et al., "SIP-5069: SIP Editor Handbook," Sila Improvement Proposals, no. 5069, May 2022. Available: https://sips.sila.org/SIPS/sip-5069.