Governance and standardization strategy
NUIF is maintained under Refpath. The governance policy defines current decisions; the standards roadmap separates them from proposed neutral stewardship.
Repository governance now
- RFCs for semantic changes.
- ADRs for reference-implementation choices.
- Research evidence is distinct from normative requirements.
- Extension registry changes require examples and conformance fixtures.
- No vendor adapter can redefine core semantics.
Standardization path
A W3C Community Group is a plausible early venue for document/component semantics and coordination with Open UI/DTCG, but NUIF should not enter formal standards work before an executable v0 and at least one external implementer exist. Khronos/ASWF-style governance offers useful precedent for graphics/rendering and extension registries. A neutral foundation can become appropriate once multiple vendors/projects depend on the format.
IP/licensing goals
- reference code: permissive dual MIT/Apache-2.0;
- specification/schema/conformance text: permissive terms compatible with standards adoption;
- contributions: explicit patent/IP policy before standards-track claims;
- trademarks/conformance branding: separate from implementation copyright.
The project must not call itself an industry standard merely because the repository is public. Conformance, multiple implementations and neutral governance are prerequisites.