I’m still thinking about this. I think one of my main conclusions from all this. Our specification vision should be focused on what it gives you, and what is required of you. I would imagine it something like:
Our goals in writing this protocol and our expectations on you are as follows.
Evolvable
You can evolve the protocol into something that suits your needs. For this, we provide clear interfaces with specified extension points for you to use. As an offshoot of the “ActivityPub” based Fediverse aka the Mastodon protocol, we have also aimed to be compatible to it.
Our protocol is separated in layers, e.g. a wire format different from a content format, so that the layers can be evolved separately. We are glad if you want to work on a single layer! Clear interfaces allow you to do so. By supporting the behavior, we expect, you will be sure that your new layer is usable.
Self-sovereign
We do not feel the need to tell you what to do. You can build your own instance. You can modify an existing instance. You can change stuff as much as you want. All we provide is a framework for you to coordinate things.
Welcoming / Accessible / Be kind
Our goal is to create a community. This will require people to interact. This will require to attract new people. This will require not antagonizing people working on stuff. So be a good person.
Something like:
would then fall under enabling “Evolvable”.