RFC: Two years of BIP Editing, time for some new faces?
6 messages, 22 to 29 Apr 2026. Started by Murch.
Murch (3), stickies-v, Greg Tonoski, Jaroslav Dlouhy
Howdy everyone,
I noticed a couple weeks ago that the two-year anniversary of the “new” BIP Editors is coming up, and I want to comment on the state of the BIPs repository and BIP Editorship. In the past two years (2024-04-22–2026-04-22), the six BIP Editors left 4108 comments, processed 596 pull requests (382 merged), and facilitated the publication of 42 BIPs. We got a new BIP Process, touched up existing documents, tidied up abandoned submissions, and fixed up the CI scripts. There is still room for improvement, but I perceive a positive impact on development discussions and an increase in submissions as the BIPs repository became more lively again. I’m proud of what we have achieved so far.
For most of this time, two BIP Editors contributed most of the work. Then for the first quarter this year, I was the only BIP Editor that regularly contributed to and did the vast majority of the day-to-day work in the repository. I enjoy the work—but we added more BIP Editors two years ago because it’s more than a one-person job.
I’m grateful for my colleagues’ contributions as well as the splendid advice they’ve provided in our many discussions, and thankful that they volunteered to serve the community!
After two years, I propose that we refresh the BIP Editor team. My recommendation would be to aim for three BIP Editors that are all keen on regularly contributing to the BIP Editor work in the repository.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Murch
I'm not involved enough with the BIPs repository to have a good view on the exact best number of editors, but I agree that it is better to have a smaller group where everyone is actively engaged. Three sounds reasonable.
Thank you to all the editors, and special mention to Murch, for your excellent work on revitalizing the BIPs repository in the last 2 years. For the visible and the invisible work. stickies-v
On Thu, Apr 23, 2026 at 1:04 AM Murch <murch@murch•one> wrote:
Quoted text (35 lines)
> Howdy everyone, > > I noticed a couple weeks ago that the two-year anniversary of the “new” > BIP Editors is coming up, and I want to comment on the state of the BIPs > repository and BIP Editorship. In the past two years > (2024-04-22–2026-04-22), the six BIP Editors left 4108 comments, > processed 596 pull requests (382 merged), and facilitated the > publication of 42 BIPs. We got a new BIP Process, touched up existing > documents, tidied up abandoned submissions, and fixed up the CI scripts. > There is still room for improvement, but I perceive a positive impact on > development discussions and an increase in submissions as the BIPs > repository became more lively again. I’m proud of what we have achieved > so far. > > For most of this time, two BIP Editors contributed most of the work. > Then for the first quarter this year, I was the only BIP Editor that > regularly contributed to and did the vast majority of the day-to-day > work in the repository. I enjoy the work—but we added more BIP Editors > two years ago because it’s more than a one-person job. > > I’m grateful for my colleagues’ contributions as well as the splendid > advice they’ve provided in our many discussions, and thankful that they > volunteered to serve the community! > > After two years, I propose that we refresh the BIP Editor team. My > recommendation would be to aim for three BIP Editors that are all keen > on regularly contributing to the BIP Editor work in the repository. > > Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, > Murch > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bitcoin Development Mailing List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [bitcoindev+unsubscribe@googlegroups•com](mailto:bitcoindev%2Bunsubscribe@googlegroups•com). > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/3cfa2ee0-07ae-43db-8664-a817af477c95%40murch.one.
I will help you and join the BIP Editors team so that there are more contributors. What information do you need from me to complete authorization?
BTW I already offered my contributions two years ago in the mailing list.
Looking forward to a reply.
On Thu, 23 Apr 2026 at 02:04, Murch <murch@murch•one> wrote:
Quoted text (40 lines)
> Howdy everyone, > > I noticed a couple weeks ago that the two-year anniversary of the “new” > BIP Editors is coming up, and I want to comment on the state of the BIPs > repository and BIP Editorship. In the past two years > (2024-04-22–2026-04-22), the six BIP Editors left 4108 comments, > processed 596 pull requests (382 merged), and facilitated the > publication of 42 BIPs. We got a new BIP Process, touched up existing > documents, tidied up abandoned submissions, and fixed up the CI scripts. > There is still room for improvement, but I perceive a positive impact on > development discussions and an increase in submissions as the BIPs > repository became more lively again. I’m proud of what we have achieved > so far. > > For most of this time, two BIP Editors contributed most of the work. > Then for the first quarter this year, I was the only BIP Editor that > regularly contributed to and did the vast majority of the day-to-day > work in the repository. I enjoy the work—but we added more BIP Editors > two years ago because it’s more than a one-person job. > > I’m grateful for my colleagues’ contributions as well as the splendid > advice they’ve provided in our many discussions, and thankful that they > volunteered to serve the community! > > After two years, I propose that we refresh the BIP Editor team. My > recommendation would be to aim for three BIP Editors that are all keen > on regularly contributing to the BIP Editor work in the repository. > > Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, > Murch > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Bitcoin Development Mailing List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to bitcoindev+unsubscribe@googlegroups•com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/3cfa2ee0-07ae-43db-8664-a817af477c95%40murch.one > . >
What does it entail to do the BIP Editor? Any specific expertise required? Do we have anymore details into the role? I would be happy to help if it is something I would be able to do.
Regards, Zed
On Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 8:05:52 AM UTC-6 Greg Tonoski wrote:
Quoted text (54 lines)
> I will help you and join the BIP Editors team so that there are more > contributors. What information do you need from me to complete > authorization? > > BTW I already offered my contributions two years ago in the mailing list. > > Looking forward to a reply. > > On Thu, 23 Apr 2026 at 02:04, Murch <mu...@murch•one> wrote: > >> Howdy everyone, >> >> I noticed a couple weeks ago that the two-year anniversary of the “new” >> BIP Editors is coming up, and I want to comment on the state of the BIPs >> repository and BIP Editorship. In the past two years >> (2024-04-22–2026-04-22), the six BIP Editors left 4108 comments, >> processed 596 pull requests (382 merged), and facilitated the >> publication of 42 BIPs. We got a new BIP Process, touched up existing >> documents, tidied up abandoned submissions, and fixed up the CI scripts. >> There is still room for improvement, but I perceive a positive impact on >> development discussions and an increase in submissions as the BIPs >> repository became more lively again. I’m proud of what we have achieved >> so far. >> >> For most of this time, two BIP Editors contributed most of the work. >> Then for the first quarter this year, I was the only BIP Editor that >> regularly contributed to and did the vast majority of the day-to-day >> work in the repository. I enjoy the work—but we added more BIP Editors >> two years ago because it’s more than a one-person job. >> >> I’m grateful for my colleagues’ contributions as well as the splendid >> advice they’ve provided in our many discussions, and thankful that they >> volunteered to serve the community! >> >> After two years, I propose that we refresh the BIP Editor team. My >> recommendation would be to aim for three BIP Editors that are all keen >> on regularly contributing to the BIP Editor work in the repository. >> >> Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, >> Murch >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Bitcoin Development Mailing List" group. >> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to bitcoindev+...@googlegroups•com. > > >> To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/3cfa2ee0-07ae-43db-8664-a817af477c95%40murch.one >> . >> >
Hi Zed,
I’d say we are looking for people that have • some experience contributing to a Bitcoin project or Bitcoin protocol design • solid command of English • and enjoy detail-oriented work.
A BIP Editor should expect to invest at least 5–10 hours per week in the repository with an open ended upper bound. Part of the work is fairly clerical: keeping abreast of the open pull requests, nudging BIP owners for review or PR authors for updates, and merging PRs when they are ready for that. For modifications of existing BIPs, most of the review should optimally come from the owners of the affected BIP. For new BIPs, the editors should be able to give each a timely solid read, comment on the technical feasibility, and provide some actionable constructive feedback.
Except for labeling PRs and merging them, essentially all of the work of BIP Editors could be done by any community member, so please feel free to try it out yourself: take a look at one of the open pull requests¹, give it a read, and leave some useful comments.
Cheers, Murch
On 2026-04-27 12:51, 'Jaroslav Dlouhy' via Bitcoin Development Mailing List wrote:
Quoted text (86 lines)
> What does it entail to do the BIP Editor? Any specific expertise > required? Do we have anymore details into the role? I would be happy > to help if it is something I would be able to do. > > Regards, > Zed > > On Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 8:05:52 AM UTC-6 Greg Tonoski wrote: > > I will help you and join the BIP Editors team so that there are > more contributors. What information do you need from me to > complete authorization? > > BTW I already offered my contributions two years ago in the > mailing list. > > Looking forward to a reply. > > On Thu, 23 Apr 2026 at 02:04, Murch <mu...@murch•one> wrote: > > Howdy everyone, > > I noticed a couple weeks ago that the two-year anniversary of > the “new” > BIP Editors is coming up, and I want to comment on the state > of the BIPs > repository and BIP Editorship. In the past two years > (2024-04-22–2026-04-22), the six BIP Editors left 4108 comments, > processed 596 pull requests (382 merged), and facilitated the > publication of 42 BIPs. We got a new BIP Process, touched up > existing > documents, tidied up abandoned submissions, and fixed up the > CI scripts. > There is still room for improvement, but I perceive a positive > impact on > development discussions and an increase in submissions as the > BIPs > repository became more lively again. I’m proud of what we have > achieved > so far. > > For most of this time, two BIP Editors contributed most of the > work. > Then for the first quarter this year, I was the only BIP > Editor that > regularly contributed to and did the vast majority of the > day-to-day > work in the repository. I enjoy the work—but we added more BIP > Editors > two years ago because it’s more than a one-person job. > > I’m grateful for my colleagues’ contributions as well as the > splendid > advice they’ve provided in our many discussions, and thankful > that they > volunteered to serve the community! > > After two years, I propose that we refresh the BIP Editor > team. My > recommendation would be to aim for three BIP Editors that are > all keen > on regularly contributing to the BIP Editor work in the > repository. > > Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, > Murch > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the > Google Groups "Bitcoin Development Mailing List" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from > it, send an email to bitcoindev+...@googlegroups•com. > > > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/3cfa2ee0-07ae-43db-8664-a817af477c95%40murch.one. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Bitcoin Development Mailing List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to bitcoindev+unsubscribe@googlegroups•com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/7062a5b1-667f-49de-aab1-cd8f56290e39n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/7062a5b1-667f-49de-aab1-cd8f56290e39n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
Hi Greg,
thanks again for your interest. As I wrote to Zed in another branch of this thread, almost all of the work BIP Editors do on a regular basis can be contributed to by anyone: please feel free to give some of the open pull requests a solid review and leave some constructive comments. I expect that this conversation will probably move similarly slowly as two years ago. I would surmise that candidates who made pertinent contributions to the repository would be more likely to garner support for a BIP Editor role.
Cheers, Murch
On 2026-04-23 05:35, Greg Tonoski wrote:
Quoted text (58 lines)
> I will help you and join the BIP Editors team so that there are more > contributors. What information do you need from me to complete > authorization? > > BTW I already offered my contributions two years ago in the mailing list. > > Looking forward to a reply. > > On Thu, 23 Apr 2026 at 02:04, Murch <murch@murch•one> wrote: > > Howdy everyone, > > I noticed a couple weeks ago that the two-year anniversary of the > “new” > BIP Editors is coming up, and I want to comment on the state of > the BIPs > repository and BIP Editorship. In the past two years > (2024-04-22–2026-04-22), the six BIP Editors left 4108 comments, > processed 596 pull requests (382 merged), and facilitated the > publication of 42 BIPs. We got a new BIP Process, touched up existing > documents, tidied up abandoned submissions, and fixed up the CI > scripts. > There is still room for improvement, but I perceive a positive > impact on > development discussions and an increase in submissions as the BIPs > repository became more lively again. I’m proud of what we have > achieved > so far. > > For most of this time, two BIP Editors contributed most of the work. > Then for the first quarter this year, I was the only BIP Editor that > regularly contributed to and did the vast majority of the day-to-day > work in the repository. I enjoy the work—but we added more BIP > Editors > two years ago because it’s more than a one-person job. > > I’m grateful for my colleagues’ contributions as well as the splendid > advice they’ve provided in our many discussions, and thankful that > they > volunteered to serve the community! > > After two years, I propose that we refresh the BIP Editor team. My > recommendation would be to aim for three BIP Editors that are all > keen > on regularly contributing to the BIP Editor work in the repository. > > Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, > Murch > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Bitcoin Development Mailing List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send an email to bitcoindev+unsubscribe@googlegroups•com > <mailto:bitcoindev%2Bunsubscribe@googlegroups•com>. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bitcoindev/3cfa2ee0-07ae-43db-8664-a817af477c95%40murch.one. >