Governance
NUIF is currently an experimental Refpath-hosted open research project, not an accredited standard.
Maturity surfaces
- The reference editor is a research preview. Its
0.1.0-alpha.Napplication version does not version the draft specification. - The specification is pre-draft. No conformance profile is published as normative.
- Executable adapter profiles are experimental and apply only to their declared subset and evaluation matrix.
- A tag freezes one research instrument revision; it does not certify the architectural thesis or vendor interoperability.
Decision surfaces
- Research records collect evidence and may contradict one another.
- RFCs propose normative model/protocol changes.
- ADRs select reference-implementation techniques and do not automatically define the draft specification.
- Specifications become normative only when their status explicitly says so.
- Conformance fixtures are the executable interpretation of normative requirements.
Change process
Semantic changes require an RFC with motivation, alternatives, compatibility/loss analysis, security considerations, conformance changes and evidence links. Implementation-only changes may use an ADR when they establish a durable architectural choice.
Neutrality
Figma, Penpot, HTML/CSS, Svelte, React, Flutter, SwiftUI, Compose and future systems are adapters/implementers, not privileged sources of truth.
The long-term goal is neutral stewardship once the project has an executable stable profile and at least two independent implementations.
Pre-standard boundary
Standards-track publication requires an operative specification license, royalty-free patent commitments, contribution terms, named editor and maintainer roles, consensus and appeal procedures, a conflict-of-interest and antitrust policy, trademark rules and conformance-mark governance. The current MIT and Apache-2.0 terms license reference code; they do not establish those specification-development terms.