Add documentation governance docs
Ultraworked with [Sisyphus](https://github.com/code-yeongyu/oh-my-openagent) Co-authored-by: Sisyphus <clio-agent@sisyphuslabs.ai>
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# Project Documentation Assessment
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## Purpose
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This document assesses the current Red Bear OS documentation set after the repository-model and WIP
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ownership policy updates.
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The goal is not only to list documents. The goal is to answer:
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- which docs are canonical and current
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- which docs are still useful but historical
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- which areas are well-covered
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- which areas still have duplication, stale wording, or split ownership
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## Executive Summary
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The documentation set is now **directionally strong** and much clearer than before about Red Bear’s
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relationship to upstream Redox. The repository-level model is now visible in the root docs,
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implementation plan, overlay guide, and relibc-specific planning notes.
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The strongest documentation theme is now the **overlay discipline**:
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- RedBearOS is documented as an overlay distribution on top of Redox
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- upstream-owned sources are documented as refreshable working copies
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- durable Red Bear state is documented as living in `local/patches/`, `local/recipes/`,
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`local/docs/`, and tracked Red Bear configs
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- fast-moving upstream components such as relibc are documented with an upstream-first rule
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- upstream WIP is now documented as a local-project trigger for Red Bear until upstream promotes it
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That is the right long-term maintenance model.
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The main remaining weakness is **documentation fragmentation**. There is now enough good material,
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but some topics are spread across too many files, and some older public docs still speak in a more
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fork-oriented or historically WIP-oriented voice than the newer overlay model.
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## Strong Areas
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### 1. Repository ownership model
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This is now one of the strongest-documented parts of the project.
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The model is visible in:
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- `AGENTS.md`
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- `local/AGENTS.md`
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- `docs/07-RED-BEAR-OS-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md`
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- `docs/README.md`
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The key message is now consistent: Red Bear is an overlay on top of Redox, not a permanent fork of
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every upstream-owned source tree.
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### 2. relibc maintenance logic
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The relibc docs are much stronger than before because they now document both:
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- the **technical completeness** story
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- the **preservation/reapply** story
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The most important improvement is that relibc work is no longer described only as source changes in
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`recipes/core/relibc/source/`. It is now also described as a patch-carrier workflow under
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`local/patches/relibc/`, which is the right long-term maintenance framing.
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### 3. Subsystem planning depth
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USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IRQ/low-level controller work, relibc IPC, and AMD/graphics all have
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substantial focused planning material under `local/docs/`.
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This is good. These are the areas where Red Bear differs most strongly from upstream, so deep local
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planning documents are appropriate.
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### 4. Public implementation plan
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`docs/07-RED-BEAR-OS-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md` is now doing the right job as the canonical public
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execution-order and repository-model document. It no longer reads like only a historical hardware
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roadmap.
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## Weak Areas
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### 1. Historical docs still bleed into current-state reading
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The older `docs/01`–`docs/05` files still contain valuable architecture and rationale, but some of
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them still carry old assumptions such as:
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- “WIP means upstream ownership is good enough”
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- “missing / not started” wording for areas that are now partially or substantially implemented
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- public-facing framing that predates the current overlay-policy language
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They are no longer wrong in all details, but they are not all equally safe as current-state guides.
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### 2. WIP ownership policy is newly documented, but not yet propagated everywhere
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The new WIP rule is now present in the repository model and WIP-specific guide, but there are still
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older docs and notes that talk about `recipes/wip/` as if it were simply the place where future
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shipping work lives.
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That is no longer the full policy. For Red Bear, upstream WIP should now be read as:
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- useful upstream input
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- not yet a stable shipping source of truth
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- candidate for local takeover until upstream promotes it
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This wording should be propagated further over time, especially in older public roadmap docs.
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### 3. Script awareness is documented more than enforced
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The scripts now explain the overlay/WIP model better, but some of them are still operationally
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neutral. They do not yet encode every policy distinction automatically.
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Examples:
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- `fetch-all-sources.sh` documents the rule, but still fetches upstream WIP sources as raw inputs
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- `sync-upstream.sh` documents the rule, but its conflict checks are still strongest for build-system
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patches, not all subsystem overlays
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- `apply-patches.sh` documents the rule, but its actual symlink/application logic is still strongest
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for the established overlay paths and not for all possible future WIP-local migrations
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This is acceptable for now, but it means “policy-aware” is currently stronger in docs than in full
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automation.
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### 4. No single canonical doc-index for current-vs-historical status
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`docs/README.md` helps, but there is still no one-page matrix saying, for every major document:
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- canonical current-state source
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- architectural rationale only
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- historical plan
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- Red Bear overlay-specific supplement
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That would reduce confusion significantly.
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## Canonicality Assessment
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### Canonical current-state / policy docs
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- `AGENTS.md`
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- `local/AGENTS.md`
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- `docs/07-RED-BEAR-OS-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md`
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- `docs/README.md`
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- subsystem plans under `local/docs/` that cover active Red Bear-owned workstreams
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### Canonical technical local overlays for active subsystems
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- `local/docs/RELIBC-COMPLETENESS-AND-ENHANCEMENT-PLAN.md`
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- `local/docs/RELIBC-IPC-ASSESSMENT-AND-IMPROVEMENT-PLAN.md`
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- `local/docs/QT6-PORT-STATUS.md`
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- `local/docs/USB-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md`
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- `local/docs/WIFI-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md`
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- `local/docs/BLUETOOTH-IMPLEMENTATION-PLAN.md`
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- `local/docs/IRQ-AND-LOWLEVEL-CONTROLLERS-ENHANCEMENT-PLAN.md`
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### Valuable but partially historical docs
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- `docs/01-REDOX-ARCHITECTURE.md`
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- `docs/02-GAP-ANALYSIS.md`
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- `docs/03-WAYLAND-ON-REDOX.md`
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- `docs/04-LINUX-DRIVER-COMPAT.md`
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- `docs/05-KDE-PLASMA-ON-REDOX.md`
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These should still be treated as useful references, but their top-level status notes must continue to
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warn readers when current implementation has moved ahead of the original text.
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## Documentation Gaps Still Worth Fixing
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### Gap 1 — Canonical document-status matrix
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**Status:** addressed.
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The repo now has a visible document-status matrix in `docs/README.md` that marks the major docs as:
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- current policy
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- current subsystem plan
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- architecture reference
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- historical roadmap
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### Gap 2 — WIP migration ledger
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**Status:** addressed.
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The repo now has a compact WIP ownership ledger in `local/docs/WIP-MIGRATION-LEDGER.md` that tracks
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which major areas are currently in which state:
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- still consumed directly from upstream WIP
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- mirrored locally and shipped from `local/recipes/`
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- promoted upstream again, so Red Bear prefers upstream
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This is especially useful for Qt/KDE/Wayland-adjacent work.
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### Gap 3 — Script behavior matrix
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**Status:** addressed.
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The repo now has a concise script behavior matrix in `local/docs/SCRIPT-BEHAVIOR-MATRIX.md`
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covering:
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- what `sync-upstream.sh` does and does not handle
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- what `apply-patches.sh` applies and what it only symlinks
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- what `build-redbear.sh` assumes about local overlays
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- what `fetch-all-sources.sh` means for upstream WIP versus local recipes
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This behavior is now centralized instead of being only inferable from scripts.
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### Gap 4 — Public/current Qt and Wayland split
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**Status:** addressed.
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Qt and Wayland status is still spread across multiple detailed docs, but the repo now has a
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canonical current-state summary in `local/docs/DESKTOP-STACK-CURRENT-STATUS.md` to anchor the
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current build/runtime truth while the older public docs remain useful as history/rationale:
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- `docs/03-WAYLAND-ON-REDOX.md`
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- `docs/05-KDE-PLASMA-ON-REDOX.md`
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- `local/docs/QT6-PORT-STATUS.md`
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- recipe-local notes
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## Recommended Next Documentation Moves
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1. Continue pruning local relibc overlays when upstream truly covers them — but only after the
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fresh-source reapply + rebuild path proves it.
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2. Keep the WIP migration ledger current as upstream WIP areas are promoted or replaced.
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3. Extend the same upstream-first cleanup discipline to other fast-moving system packages,
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especially the desktop stack.
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4. Periodically re-check older public roadmap docs to ensure their historical notes remain visible
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and accurate.
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## Bottom Line
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The project documentation is now fundamentally pointed in the right direction.
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Its strongest improvement is conceptual clarity: Red Bear is now documented as an overlay on top of
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Redox, not as a permanently hand-maintained fork of every moving part. The relibc work in
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particular now has both a technical story and a preservation story.
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The biggest remaining weakness is not missing information; it is **distribution of information**.
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There is enough good documentation now, but some of it still needs a cleaner canonical index and a
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more explicit split between current policy, current subsystem plans, and historical roadmaps.
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