I think we typically call it our "four-stage process" though—what if we just removed the number?

I don't think Stage 0 is really much of a stage, even if we have documented the term in the process doc. I prefer to continue to refer to it as a four-stage process.

I don't think Stage 0 is really much of a stage, even if we have documented the term in the process doc. I prefer to continue to refer to it as a four-stage process.

Does that not make this awkward?
https://github.com/tc39/proposals/blob/master/stage-0-proposals.md

Hmm, even as it stands though, I'm not sure that page reflects current reality—if we aren't requiring so much as a repo with a README for Stage 1 advancement, then in essence some idea you had in the shower is also Stage 0 (i.e. "no stage"), so that page might be better titled "ideas looking for an initial champion".

(Or more fancifully, "strawpeople awaiting a breath of life". 😂)

@rkirsling hence the two bullet points on the linked document, filtering the list from “uselessly broad” to “useful”

The Process Document also states that there are five stages:

There are five stages: a strawperson stage, and 4 “maturity” stages.

I gotta say, I wasn't expecting this to be controversial...