Subject: [bug#74736] [PATCH v2 0/1] Add Request-For-Comment process.

From: Hartmut Goebel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2025 21:41:26 +0100

Hi,

enclosed please find a patch for v9. It proposes descriptions for 
missing states, cases and transitions. I found it easier to create the 
patch than describing what I propose to change.

This patch does *not* include my proposals from my other mails today, 
but new ones.

In addition, I suggest exchanging "Process Overview" and "Roles". I left 
this away to keep the patch small.

-- 
Regards
Hartmut Goebel

| Hartmut Goebel          | [email-masked]               |
| www.crazy-compilers.com | compilers which you thought are impossible |
--- 001-gcd-process-v9.md	2025-01-16 19:08:54.591520179 +0100
+++ 001-gcd-process-v9-hg.md	2025-01-16 21:34:52.637787901 +0100
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@
 These day-to-day contributions remain governed by the process described
 by the manual in its “Contributing” chapter.
 
-## How the Process Works
+# How the Process Works
+
+## Getting Started
 
 1. Clone
    https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix/guix-consensus-documents.git
@@ -85,10 +87,8 @@
    one or more people who will support the GCD and participate in
    discussions by your side (see below).
 
-The GCD is *submitted* once it has at least one sponsor in addition to
-the author(s).  See “Submission Period” below.
-
-Submitted GCD is announced at [email-masked]`.
+Your GCD is now in "draft" state and will be processed as described in
+the next sections.
 
 ## Roles
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@
     translation, reviewing, etc. and more broadly any person feeling part
     of the Guix community.
 
-## Timeline
+## Process Overview
 
 A GCD must follow the process illustrated by the diagram below,
 consisting of several *periods*.
@@ -141,18 +141,36 @@
 
 The subsections below detail the various periods and their duration.
 
-### Submission Period (up to 7 days)
+## Submission Period (up to 7 days)
+
+During the Submission Period the authors seek at least one sponsor
+(see below) for their *draft* GCD in addition to the author(s).
+Contributors can volunteer to be sponsors by publicly replying “I
+sponsor” to the authors' announcement.
 
-Anyone can author and submit a GCD as a regular patch and look for
-sponsors (see below).  The GCD is *submitted* once one or more people
-have volunteered to be sponsors by publicly replying “I sponsor”; it is
-canceled if no sponsor could be found during that period.  The next step
-is the *discussion period*.
+Once one or more sponsors are found, the authors can *submit* the GCD
+(see below) and start the *discussion period*.
+
+The GCD is *canceled* if no sponsor could be found during that period.
 
 Authors may withdraw their GCD at any time; they can resubmit it again
 later, possibly under a new GCD number.
 
-### Discussion Period (at least 30 days, up to 60 days)
+### Submitting the GCD
+
+[[Some explanation like "Merging the Final GCD".
+Plus handling the case that the author disappears:]]
+
+The *discussion period* shall be started within 7 days after
+submission.  After that, the stale GCD may be set to *withdrawn* by a
+Maintainer of the Guix project.
+
+
+## Discussion Period (at least 30 days, up to 60 days)
+
+The *discussion period* starts when the authors
+announce the submission of the GCD at both [email-masked]`
+and [email-masked]`.
 
 Once submitted, the GCD is publicly discussed by all the members of the
 community.  Authors are encouraged to publish updated versions
@@ -164,7 +182,14 @@
 of the discussion period, the author(s) may publish a final version and
 announce the start of the *deliberation period*.
 
-### Deliberation Period (14 days)
+The *deliberation period* shall be started within 7 days after the end
+of the discussion period.  After that, the stale GCD may be set to
+*withdrawn* by a Maintainer of the Guix project.
+
+## Deliberation Period (14 days)
+
+The *deliberation period* starts when the authors
+publish a final version of the GCD at [email-masked]`.
 
 Deliberation aims at consolidating consensus; see “Decision Making”
 below.
@@ -230,17 +255,19 @@
 Texts](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html) or (at your option)
 any later version.
 
-## GCD Template
+# Related Documents
+
+* **GCD Template**:
 
 The expected structure of GCDs is captured by the template in the file
 `000-template.md`, written in English with Markdown syntax.
 
-## Cost of Reverting
+# Cost of Reverting
 
 The GCD process described in this document can be amended by subsequent
 GCDs.
 
-## Drawbacks
+# Drawbacks
 
 There is a risk that the additional process will hinder contribution more than
 it would help.  We should stay alert that the process is only a way to help
@@ -251,7 +278,7 @@
 and notably avoid repeating arguments, avoid using exclusionary jargon,
 and solicit opinions of those who remained silent.
 
-## Open Issues
+# Open Issues
 
 There are still questions regarding the desired scope of the process.
 While we want to ensure that technical changes that affect users are