How decisions are made, and why transparency matters more than speed.
BBCO.org is stewarded as a neutral, community-led project. The stewardship model is deliberately lightweight, emphasizing transparency and continuity over formal hierarchy.
The project belongs to the people building it, with maintainers rotating to prevent bottlenecks and keep stewardship independent of any single company.
All technical decisions happen in the open. Schema and definition changes need documented rationale and community review. Every decision happens in the open.
Priorities are set by what the shared infrastructure actually needs, not by what any one participant's business requires.
From proposal through implementation, in the open.
Any community member can propose a change to schemas, definitions, or reference implementations. Proposals are submitted through the project repository with a clear description of what is proposed, why it matters, and where it fits within scope.
Proposals are discussed publicly. Contributors and observers are welcome to ask questions, raise concerns, and suggest alternatives. The goal is to surface all relevant considerations before a decision is made.
Consensus is preferred. When consensus cannot be reached, maintainers make a documented decision with explicit rationale. All decisions and their reasoning are recorded and accessible.
Accepted changes are implemented with backward compatibility treated seriously. Breaking changes require extended discussion and migration guidance. Every accepted change should leave behind clearer understanding than before.
Earned through sustained, thoughtful contribution.
Maintainers earn the role through sustained, thoughtful contribution, not appointment. They are responsible for:
The process for adding and rotating maintainers is itself transparent and documented.
All contributions are made under open-source terms appropriate for reuse in regulated environments.