WHATWG on 2024-06-20

02:13	<sideshowbarker>	https://whatwg.org/working-mode has a Changes section that lists out ~4 key requirements (“must have support from implementers”, etc.) that a change to an existing spec must meet. But I can’t find anywhere similar that enumerates the requirements that the contents of any new spec must meet before it can be published at the WHATWG — that is, as/in a new Workstream.
02:21	<sideshowbarker>	I recognize there is a list of some type of requirements at Workstream Proposals — but that’s in a legal doc, and the requirements listed are not requirements related to the normative/substantive content of the spec drafts/proposals themselves. Specifically, there’s no requirement like “must have support from implementers” or the others that are required for changes to existing workstream specs.
02:25	<sideshowbarker>	Concretely, do we have any recently-created WHATWG specs with any features that don’t meet all the following requirements? must have support from implementers. should have corresponding test changes, either in the form of new tests or modifications to existing tests. implementations bugs must be filed for each user agent that fails tests
02:27	<sideshowbarker>	In other words, do we have any recently-created WHATWG specs with existing contents that under the Changes policy requirements would yet not have been able to get merged into the spec if they’d been submitted through our PR process?
02:30	<sideshowbarker>	And if the answer to that is No, then does that mean that in practice, we don’t accept/create/publish any new specs/workstreams unless the entire contents of the proposed spec already meet all the same requirements we impose on PRs for existing specs? That is, the 3 core requirements cited above?
02:49	<sideshowbarker>	Similarly, the Process part of the Stages doc is limited to describing the process for getting contributions landed in an already-existing spec. The Process description starts by saying effectively that: Any Contribution effectively starts at Stage 0 without any approvals, by a community member filing a new issue on a relevant WHATWG standard. And the very definition of a Contribution is: "Contribution" means any proposal to make changes to a particular WHATWG Living Standard (emphasis added in both citations) It all says nothing about the Stages/process for how to start a completely new spec/workstream with a Contribution that doesn’t fit into any existing spec but that instead by its nature sufficiently merits/necessitates its own separate spec
12:29	<annevk>	sideshowbarker: I'm not sure https://testutils.spec.whatwg.org was implemented everywhere (or is today?) when it was approved, but everyone was supportive of it. And yeah, Stages can be used for changes to standards (possibly including a new standard within the same Workstream), but can't be used for new Workstreams.