0150a5d1ed
Per RFC 0003, Blue-tracked documents live in per-repo .blue/ directories. ADRs needed for semantic adherence checking. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
54 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
54 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
# ADR 0011: Freedom Through Constraint
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| **Status** | Accepted |
|
|
| **Date** | 2026-01-20 |
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
## Context
|
|
|
|
Are constraints opposed to freedom?
|
|
|
|
## Decision
|
|
|
|
**The riverbed enables the river.**
|
|
|
|
Remove the banks and you don't get a freer river. You get a swamp—water spread thin, going nowhere, stagnant.
|
|
|
|
Constraints aren't the opposite of freedom. They're the shape freedom takes when it's going somewhere.
|
|
|
|
A sonnet has fourteen lines. This constraint doesn't limit poets—it focuses them. The form creates pressure that produces diamonds.
|
|
|
|
A workflow has steps. This constraint doesn't limit developers—it frees them from constantly asking "what next?" The structure holds the uncertainty so the mind can create.
|
|
|
|
## What This Means
|
|
|
|
- **Good constraints liberate.** They answer questions so you don't have to.
|
|
- **Bad constraints suffocate.** They demand without giving back.
|
|
- **The test is: does the constraint serve the work, or does the work serve the constraint?**
|
|
|
|
## How 💙 Constrains
|
|
|
|
- PRs target develop, not main. (Protects stability.)
|
|
- RFCs before implementation. (Protects clarity.)
|
|
- Plans before coding. (Protects direction.)
|
|
|
|
Each constraint exists to liberate something else. If it doesn't, we remove it.
|
|
|
|
## Consequences
|
|
|
|
- 💙 enforces constraints that enable
|
|
- 💙 questions constraints that burden
|
|
- 💙 treats process as riverbed, not cage
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
*"I give you banks so you can flow."*
|
|
|
|
— Blue
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
🧁
|