Breaking the web

[Ginden]

This happens all the time - someone proposes breaking changes and his ideas are rejected because they break the web.

We should have authoritative document explaining why non-backward-compatible changes are forbidden, when such changes can be accepted and how one can rewrite thheir idea to make it backwards-compatible.

[xtuc]

I feel like the meeting notes provides this kind of information. The issue is that each case is different and has different arguments.

[Ginden]

I feel like the meeting notes provides this kind of information.

Majority of people proposing new ideas and arguing for them don't read meeting notes (see smoosh issues: flatMap/pull/56; propositions to break existing pages are heavily upvoted).

[ljharb]

Will those people read this site?

[Ginden]

We can at least send them link to such page and avoid the same discussion over and over.

[zoepage]

don't read meeting notes

Is it possible, they just do not know where to find them?

Will those people read this site?

I also think, its worth a shot. Especially if we are bundling information here anyway. We were thinking about adding a FAQ section (which includes a glossary and the main questions). Would this kind of information work for this content? :)

[Ginden]

Is it possible, they just do not know where to find them?

Maybe. Though, meeting notes are big, scary and bit hermetical.

[littledan]

I think we should improve documentation there, and I disagree with the skepticism earlier in the thread about the value of such documentation. I've filed an issue in a TC39-internal repository to track our documentation effort; TC39 delegates can see it at tc39/how-we-work#37 . I hope we can create publishable content here soon.

[xtuc]

I can see the value in documenting why TC39 would/should break the web.

It seems like @Ginden asked for a per features doc, I think this kind of information is already available in the notes or in the proposal repo. I know that both are quite verbose.

[gesa]

quick point of order on the initial issue, and sorry i didn't see this two weeks ago @Ginden,

one can rewrite his idea

should be

one can rewrite their idea

Aside from that though I love this feedback, hard agree with @Ginden on meeting notes being big & scary. @zoepage My gut tells me this might deserve more space than an FAQ—especially when thinking about if we ever want to add more information after, say, a particularly contentious feature we do or do not approve. Maybe we cross that bridge when we come to it though.

[rkirsling]

this might deserve more space than an FAQ

After #SmooshGate, this might even warrant its own cutesy PSA animation ("Hi! My name's Teecee the Toucan and I'm here to talk to you about preserving the web!"). 😆 But yeah, maybe not for Day 1.