For Humans

How to think inside OSI

OSI is a governed knowledge architecture, not merely a software tool or a collection of documents. Read the repository as a sequence of purposes:

Terminology explains the words used consistently.
Principles state the commitments that constrain design.
Governance explains authority, stewardship, review, and promotion.
Research records questions and experiments that remain exploratory.
Evidence shows what has actually been demonstrated.
Foundation holds mature conceptual artifacts.
History records how ideas and decisions developed.

When documents disagree, check their lifecycle state and authority before choosing a definition. Active research can challenge the foundation, but it does not silently replace it. Evidence can support a claim, but it does not become canonical without congruence, validation, and governance review.

Begin with the OSI Philosophical Constitution and Start Here, then use Project Status to understand what is implemented, demonstrated, or still gated.