Add a document describing the change process (#166)

Author: Ramon Nogueira

Process.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# OpenCensus change process
+
+This document outlines a process for proposing, approving and implementing changes in OpenCensus.
+
+Status: WIP, improvements/suggestions welcome.
+
+## Scope
+
+This change process covers changes to the OpenCensus Specs. Generally, all new APIs or major
+API changes should be documented in OpenCensus Specs. This is to ensure consistency across
+language implementations, as far as practical.
+
+This document does not cover improvements to individual OpenCensus libraries that don't
+require Spec changes. These should be filed as issues on the individual OpenCensus library
+repository.
+
+## Process
+
+### Step 1: Opening an issue
+
+Open an issue on the (opencensus-specs repo)[https://github.com/census-instrumentation/opencensus-specs/issues/new].
+
+The issue should describe the problem you're trying to solve and the proposed solution (if any).
+
+When opened, the label "proposal" should be applied.
+This label indicates that the issue has not yet been approved and no commitment has been made
+to include this change in OpenCensus.
+The issue will move out of "proposal" state when it is approved in the next step.
+
+At this point, we allow a week for anyone to comment on the issue to share their opinion.
+
+### Step 2: Approval
+
+New issues labelled with "proposal" that have been open at least three business days will be discussed at the regular community meeting.
+If there is consensus, the issue can be approved directly. If more investigation is needed, a group of responsible
+individuals will be selected at the meeting to work on the issue.
+
+If the issue is approved, the "approved" label should be added.
+
+If the issue is not approved, it should be closed with a short description of why it was not approved.
+
+### Step 3: Specs pull request
+
+Once an change is approved, anyone may open a pull request implementing the specs or protobuf changes needed to implement
+the approved change. Pull requests are reviewed by maintainers and interested parties. Pull requests should normally be
+left open at least three business days for anyone interested to comment.
+
+It is highly recommended that the proposal be accompanied by a pull request implementing the change
+against at least one OpenCensus language implementation.
+
+### Step 4: Merge pull request
+
+Once reviewed, the pull request may be merged either by the original author or by the reviewer if the original auther
+does not have permissions to merge their own pull requests.
+
+OpenCensus library language maintainers are responsible to monitor all changes merged to the specs repo and open issues
+themselves on their respective libraries to implement the change.