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authorJakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>2023-10-11 04:42:24 +0200
committerDavid S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>2023-10-15 15:26:51 +0200
commit6e55b1cbf05dca4651692be6c59acb7b20186653 (patch)
tree7137b5e381e1ea0695a8992085aec005a813d405 /Documentation/process/7.AdvancedTopics.rst
parentMerge branch 'sfc-conntrack-offload' (diff)
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docs: try to encourage (netdev?) reviewers
Add a section to netdev maintainer doc encouraging reviewers to chime in on the mailing list. The questions about "when is it okay to share feedback" keep coming up (most recently at netconf) and the answer is "pretty much always". Extend the section of 7.AdvancedTopics.rst which deals with reviews a little bit to add stuff we had been recommending locally. Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org> Reviewed-by: Florian Fainelli <florian.fainelli@broadcom.com> Reviewed-by: Martin Habets <habetsm.xilinx@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>
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diff --git a/Documentation/process/7.AdvancedTopics.rst b/Documentation/process/7.AdvancedTopics.rst
index bf7cbfb4caa5..43291704338e 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/7.AdvancedTopics.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/7.AdvancedTopics.rst
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ pull. The git request-pull command can be helpful in this regard; it will
format the request as other developers expect, and will also check to be
sure that you have remembered to push those changes to the public server.
+.. _development_advancedtopics_reviews:
Reviewing patches
-----------------
@@ -167,6 +168,12 @@ comments as questions rather than criticisms. Asking "how does the lock
get released in this path?" will always work better than stating "the
locking here is wrong."
+Another technique that is useful in case of a disagreement is to ask for others
+to chime in. If a discussion reaches a stalemate after a few exchanges,
+then call for opinions of other reviewers or maintainers. Often those in
+agreement with a reviewer remain silent unless called upon.
+The opinion of multiple people carries exponentially more weight.
+
Different developers will review code from different points of view. Some
are mostly concerned with coding style and whether code lines have trailing
white space. Others will focus primarily on whether the change implemented
@@ -176,3 +183,14 @@ security issues, duplication of code found elsewhere, adequate
documentation, adverse effects on performance, user-space ABI changes, etc.
All types of review, if they lead to better code going into the kernel, are
welcome and worthwhile.
+
+There is no strict requirement to use specific tags like ``Reviewed-by``.
+In fact reviews in plain English are more informative and encouraged
+even when a tag is provided, e.g. "I looked at aspects A, B and C of this
+submission and it looks good to me."
+Some form of a review message or reply is obviously necessary otherwise
+maintainers will not know that the reviewer has looked at the patch at all!
+
+Last but not least patch review may become a negative process, focused
+on pointing out problems. Please throw in a compliment once in a while,
+particularly for newbies!