diff --git a/protocol-extensions.asciidoc b/protocol-extensions.asciidoc
index 1362e65d9..2502308c3 100644
--- a/protocol-extensions.asciidoc
+++ b/protocol-extensions.asciidoc
@@ -7,6 +7,15 @@ These are typically in the form of new or re-purposed escape codes. While these
 extensions are currently kitty specific, it would be nice to get some of them
 adopted more broadly, to push the state of terminal emulators forward.
 
+The goal of these extensions is to be as small an unobtrusive as possible,
+while filling in some gaps in the existing xterm protocol. In particular, one
+of the goals of this specification is explicitly not to "re-imagine" the tty.
+The tty should remain what it is -- a device for efficiently processing text
+received as a simple byte stream. Another objective is to only move the minimum
+possible amount of extra functionality into the terminal program itself. This
+is to make it as easy to implement these protocol extensions as possible,
+thereby hopefully encouraging their widespread adoption.
+
 If you wish to discuss these extensions, propose additions/changes to them
 please do so by opening issues in the github bug tracker.