Add RFC process document (#369) + mermaid dependencies

conf.py

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 extensions = [
     "myst_parser",
+    "sphinxcontrib.mermaid",
     "sphinx_reredirects",
     "sphinx_design"
     ]
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@
     "strikethrough",
     "colon_fence"
     ]
+myst_fence_as_directive = ["mermaid"]
+mermaid_height = "auto"
 
 templates_path = ["_templates"]
 exclude_patterns = [

requirements.txt

@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ json-schema-for-humans
 testresources
 sphinx-reredirects
 sphinx-reredirects
-sphinx-design
+sphinx-design
+sphinxcontrib-mermaid

resources/index.md

@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@ This section provides resources related to OME-Zarr for users from all experienc
 * [Tools](tools/index.md) - A list of tools for viewing, reading, writing, converting, validating and processing OME-Zarr data.
 * [Learning and Teaching Resources](learning-and-teaching-material/index.md) - A collection of tutorials, guides, slides, notebooks and other materials for OME-Zarr.
 * [OME-Zarr Ambassador Toolkit](ambassador-toolkit/index.md) - Slides, talking points and FAQs for confidently giving talks about OME-Zarr.
+* [The RFC Process](process/index.md) - The details of the Request for Changes (RFC) process used by the NGFF community to converge on larger decisions. 
 
 

resources/process/templates/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Templates
+
+Templates provided for the RFC process:
+
+```{toctree}
+:maxdepth: 1
+rfc_template
+review_template
+```

resources/process/templates/review_template.md

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Review Template
+
+Replace the title above of this file with “RFC-NUM: Review NUM”
+
+## Review authors
+
+## Conflicts of interest (optional)
+
+This section should be included if authors feel that there is any background information (shared grants, financial interests, etc.) which should be shared with the community for transparency. This will not prevent the **Review Authors** from submitting a review, but may trigger the addition of other **Reviewers**.
+
+## Summary
+
+## Significant comments and questions
+
+### Subheadings
+
+Structure any subheadings as necessary. 
+
+## Minor comments and questions
+
+Similarly, add any subheadings necessary
+
+## Recommendation
+
+Adopt, major changes, minor changes, reject (as last resort)
+
+See [the list of recommendations under “RFC” in RFC-1](../index.md#rfc-recommendations).
+

resources/process/templates/rfc_template.md

@@ -0,0 +1,302 @@
+@: template
+# RFC Template
+
+Summary: Sentence fragment summary
+
+## Status
+
+Brief description of status, including the state identifier, e.g. `R4`
+
+| Name      | GitHub Handle | Institution | Date       | Status                                |
+| --------- | ------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------- |
+| Author    | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Author                                |
+| Author    | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Author; Implemented (link to release) |
+| Commenter | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Endorse (link to comment)             |
+| Commenter | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Not yet (link to comment)             |
+| Endorser  | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Endorse (no link needed)              |
+| Endorser  | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Implementing (link to branch/PR)      |
+| Reviewer  | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Endorse (link to comment)             |
+| Reviewer  | N/A           | N/A         | xxxx-xx-xx | Requested by editor                   |
+
+## Overview
+
+The RFC begins with a brief overview. This section should be one or two
+paragraphs that just explains what the goal of this RFC is going to be, but
+without diving too deeply into the "why", "why now", "how", etc. Ensure anyone
+opening the document will form a clear understanding of the RFCs intent from
+reading this paragraph(s).
+
+## Background
+
+The next section is the "Background" section. This section should be at least
+two paragraphs and can take up to a whole page in some cases. The \*\*guiding goal
+of the background section\*\* is: as a newcomer to this project (new employee, team
+transfer), can I read the background section and follow any links to get the
+full context of why this change is necessary? 
+
+If you can't show a random engineer the background section and have them
+acquire nearly full context on the necessity for the RFC, then the background
+section is not full enough. To help achieve this, link to prior RFCs,
+discussions, and more here as necessary to provide context so you don't have to
+simply repeat yourself.
+
+## Proposal
+
+The next required section is "Proposal". Given the background above, this
+section proposes a solution. This should be an overview of the "how" for the
+solution, but for details further sections will be used.
+
+## Sections (at heading 2)
+
+From this point onwards, the sections and headers are generally freeform
+depending on the RFC, though it is typically preferable to make use of the
+sections listed below changing the order as necessary. Sections are styled as
+"Heading 2". Try to organize your information into self-contained sections that
+answer some critical question, and organize your sections into an order that
+builds up knowledge necessary (rather than forcing a reader to jump around to
+gain context).
+
+Sections often are split further into sub-sections styled "Heading 3" and beyond. These sub-sections just further help to organize data to ease reading and discussion.
+
+## Requirements (Recommended Header)
+
+For the problem(s) solved by this RFC, what constrains the possible solutions?
+List other RFCs, or standards (ISO, etc.) which are applicable. It is suggested
+that the following text SHOULD be used in all RFCs:
+
+The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD",
+"SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be
+interpreted as described in [IETF RFC 2119](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119)
+
+## Stakeholders (Recommended Header)
+
+Who has a stake in whether this RFC is accepted?
+
+* Facilitator: The person appointed to shepherd this RFC through the RFC
+  process.
+* Reviewers: List people whose vote (+1 or -1) will be taken into consideration
+  by the editor when deciding whether this RFC is accepted or rejected. Where
+  applicable, also list the area they are expected to focus on. In some cases
+  this section may be initially left blank and stakeholder discovery completed
+  after an initial round of socialization. Care should be taken to keep the
+  number of reviewers manageable, although the exact number will depend on the
+  scope of the RFC in question.
+* Consulted: List people who should review the RFC, but whose approval is not
+  required.
+* Socialization: This section may be used to describe how the design was
+  socialized before advancing to the "Iterate" stage of the RFC process. For
+  example: "This RFC was discussed at a working group meetings from 20xx-20yy"
+
+## Implementation (Recommended Header)
+
+Many RFCs have an "implementation" section which details how the implementation
+will work. This section should explain the rough specification changes. The
+goal is to give an idea to reviewers about the subsystems that require change
+and the surface area of those changes. 
+
+This knowledge can result in recommendations for alternate approaches that
+perhaps are idiomatic to the project or result in less packages touched. Or, it
+may result in the realization that the proposed solution in this RFC is too
+complex given the problem.
+
+For the RFC author, typing out the implementation in a high-level often serves
+as "[rubber duck debugging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging)" and you can catch a lot of
+issues or unknown unknowns prior to writing any real code.
+
+## Drawbacks, risks, alternatives, and unknowns (Recommended Header)
+
+* What are the costs of implementing this proposal?
+* What known risks exist? What factors may complicate your project? Include:
+  security, complexity, compatibility, latency, service immaturity, lack of
+  team expertise, etc.
+* What other strategies might solve the same problem?
+* What questions still need to be resolved, or details iterated upon, to accept
+  this proposal? Your answer to this is likely to evolve as the proposal
+  evolves.
+* What parts of the design do you expect to resolve through the RFC process
+  before this gets merged?
+* What parts of the design do you expect to resolve through the implementation
+  of this feature before stabilization?
+* What related issues do you consider out of scope for this RFC that could be
+  addressed in the future independently of the solution that comes out of this
+  RFC?
+
+## Abandoned Ideas (Optional Header)
+
+As RFCs evolve, it is common that there are ideas that are abandoned. Rather
+than simply deleting them from the document, you should try to organize them
+into sections that make it clear they're abandoned while explaining why they
+were abandoned.
+
+When sharing your RFC with others or having someone look back on your RFC in
+the future, it is common to walk the same path and fall into the same pitfalls
+that we've since matured from. Abandoned ideas are a way to recognize that path
+and explain the pitfalls and why they were abandoned.
+
+## Prior art and references (Optional Header)
+
+Is there any background material that might be helpful when reading this
+proposal? For instance, do other operating systems address the same problem
+this proposal addresses?
+
+Discuss prior art, both the good and the bad, in relation to this proposal. A
+few examples of what this can include are:
+
+Does this feature exist in other formats and what experiences has their
+community had?
+
+Are there any published papers or great posts that discuss this? If you have
+some relevant papers to refer to, this can serve as a more detailed theoretical
+background.
+
+This section is intended to encourage you as an author to think about the
+lessons from other domains, and provide readers of your RFC with a fuller
+picture. If there is no prior art, that is fine - your ideas are interesting to
+us whether they are brand new or if it is an adaptation from other languages.
+
+Note that while precedent set by other languages is some motivation, it does
+not on its own motivate an RFC.
+
+## Future possibilities (Optional Header)
+
+Think about what the natural extension and evolution of your proposal would be
+and how it would affect the specification and project as a whole in a holistic
+way. Try to use this section as a tool to more fully consider all possible
+interactions with the project in your proposal. Also consider how this all fits
+into the roadmap for the project and of the relevant sub-team.
+
+This is also a good place to "dump ideas", if they are out of scope for the RFC
+you are writing but otherwise related. If you have tried and cannot think of
+any future possibilities, you may simply state that you cannot think of
+anything.
+
+Note that having something written down in the future-possibilities section is
+not a reason to accept the current or a future RFC; such notes should be in the
+section on motivation or rationale in this or subsequent RFCs. The section
+merely provides additional information.
+
+## Performance (Recommended Header)
+
+What impact will this proposal have on performance? What benchmarks should we
+create to evaluate the proposal? To evaluate the implementation? Which of those
+benchmarks should we monitor on an ongoing basis?
+
+Do you expect any (speed / memory)? How will you confirm?
+
+There should be microbenchmarks. Are there?
+
+There should be end-to-end tests and benchmarks. If there are not (since this
+is still a design), how will you track that these will be created?
+
+## Compatibility (Recommended Header)
+
+How does this proposal affect backwards and forwards compatibility?
+
+Does it restrict existing assumptions or remove existing restrictions?
+
+How are implementations expected to handle these changes?
+
+## Testing (Recommended Header)
+
+How will you test your feature? A typical testing strategy involves unit,
+integration, and end-to-end tests. Are our existing test frameworks and
+infrastructure sufficient to support these tests or does this proposal require
+additional investment in those areas?
+
+If your proposal defines a contract implemented by other people, how will those
+people test that they have implemented the contract correctly? Consider, for
+example, creating a conformance test suite for this purpose.
+
+## Tutorials and Examples (Recommended Header)
+
+It is strongly recommended to provide as many examples as possible of what both users and developers can expect if the RFC were to be accepted. Sample data should be shared publicly. If longer-term is not available, contact the **Editors** for assistance.
+
+(additional-considerations)=
+## Additional considerations (Optional Header)
+
+Most RFCs will not need to consider all the following issues. They are included here as a checklist 
+
+### Security
+What impact will this proposal have on security? Does the proposal require a
+security review?
+
+A good starting point is to think about how the system might encounter
+untrusted inputs and how those inputs might be used to manipulate the system.
+From there, consider how known classes of vulnerabilities might apply to the
+system and what tools and techniques can be applied to avoid those
+vulnerabilities.
+
+### Privacy
+
+What impact will this proposal have on privacy? Does the proposal require a
+privacy review?
+
+A good starting point is to think about how user data might be collected,
+stored, or processed by your system. From there, consider the lifecycle of such
+data and any data protection techniques that may be employed.
+
+### UI/UX
+
+If there are user- or frontend-impacting changes by this RFC, it is important
+to have a "UI/UX" section. User-impacting changes might include changes in how
+images will be rendered. Frontend-impacting changes might include the need to
+perform additional preprocessing of inputs before displaying to users.
+
+This section is effectively the "implementation" section for the user
+experience. The goal is to explain the changes necessary, any impacts to
+backwards compatibility, any impacts to normal workflow, etc.
+
+As a reviewer, this section should be checked to see if the proposed changes
+feel like the rest of the ecosystem. Further, if the breaking changes are
+intolerable or there is a way to make a change while preserving compatibility,
+that should be explored.
+
+## Style Notes (EXAMPLE)
+
+All RFCs should follow similar styling and structure to ease reading.
+
+This section will updated as more style decisions are made
+so that users of the template can simply cut-n-paste sections.
+
+### Heading Styles
+
+"Heading 2" should be used for section titles. We do not use "Heading 1"
+because aesthetically the text is too large. Google Docs will use Heading 2 as
+the outermost headers in the generated outline.
+
+"Heading 3" should be used for sub-sections.
+
+Further heading styles can be used for nested sections, however it is rare that
+a RFC goes beyond "Heading 4," and rare itself that "Heading 4" is reached.
+
+### Lists
+
+When making lists, it is common to bold the first phrase/sentence/word to bring
+some category or point to attention. For example, a list of API considerations:
+
+* *Format* should be widgets
+* *Protocol* should be widgets-rpc
+* *Backwards* compatibility should be considered.
+
+### Spelling
+
+American spelling is preferred.
+
+### Code Samples
+
+Code samples should be indented (tab or spaces are fine as long as it is
+consistent) text using the Courier New font. Syntax highlighting can be
+included if possible but isn't necessary. Please ensure the highlighted syntax
+is the proper font size and using the font Courier New so non-highlighted
+samples don't appear out of place.
+
+CLI output samples are similar to code samples but should be highlighted with
+the color they'll output if it is known so that the RFC could also cover
+formatting as part of the user experience.
+
+	    func example() {
+	      <-make(chan struct{})
+	    }
+
+
+Note: This template is based on the [RFC template from Hashicorp](https://works.hashicorp.com/articles/rfc-template) used with permission.