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Governance

This document defines how the CIMP framework evolves.

CIMP governance prioritizes stability, clarity, and long-term integrity over speed or consensus.

Authority

CIMP has a maintainer-led governance model.

Canonical decisions regarding:

  • core concepts
  • terminology
  • lifecycle definitions
  • philosophical boundaries

are made by the CIMP Maintainers.

This is intentional.

CIMP is not governed by popularity or voting.

Scope of governance

Governance applies to:

  • definitions of core concepts
  • changes to the conceptual model
  • interpretation of framework boundaries
  • acceptance of new canonical documents

Governance does not apply to:

  • external tools or implementations
  • private or experimental forks
  • internal usage adaptations

Decision process

Decisions are made through:

  • documented proposals
  • explicit rationale
  • consideration of long-term impact

Breaking changes to concepts require:

  • clear motivation
  • migration guidance
  • explicit acknowledgment of impact

Silently redefining concepts is not allowed.

Stability guarantees

CIMP prioritizes conceptual stability.

Once a concept is introduced and documented as canonical:

  • its meaning should not drift
  • its removal requires strong justification
  • backward compatibility is preferred

Change is allowed.
Untracked drift is not.

Contributions

Contributions are welcome in the form of:

  • clarifications
  • examples
  • improvements in explanation
  • identification of inconsistencies

Conceptual changes require alignment with CIMP philosophy.

Maintainers reserve the right to decline contributions that:

  • dilute core principles
  • introduce ambiguity
  • reframe CIMP as a tool or product

Forks and adaptations

CIMP explicitly allows forks and adaptations.

If you modify:

  • definitions
  • lifecycle models
  • governance rules

you must clearly state deviations from the canonical framework.

This protects both the fork and the original.

Accountability

Governance decisions are documented.

There are no anonymous canonical changes.

Every decision has:

  • an author
  • a rationale
  • a traceable history