[Mesa-dev] Patchwork review process (efficiency) questions

[Gediminas Jakutis]

On 2016.06.03 18:49, ⚛ wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 3, 2016 at 2:08 PM, Nicolai Hähnle <nhaehnle at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 03.06.2016 13:12, wrote:
>>>
>>> Situation: Looking at the content displayed by the web browser for URL
>>> http://patchwork.freedesktop.org/project/mesa/series and sub-pages
>>> accessible via the links.
>>
>>
>> Patchwork isn't really central to most people's workflow as far as I
>> understand it.
> 
> Ok. But how does a developer know (better: gets notified) when a patch
> has been accepted and added to mainline mesa-git? Viewing all git log
> messages every day because - just in case - the patch _might_ have
> been added to mesa-git seems quite inefficient to me.

I only ever sent one (1) patch to mesa "out-of-the-blue", so I believe I
can speak from a "newcomer" POV here.
I did not know about this patchwork thing until You mentioned it here.
I just sent my patch to mesa-dev and waited. It did get some comments
right away, but did not get reviewed for quite a while. That prompted me
to simply ask on IRC about it. I got promptly informed that the person
who can review it was tad busy at the time, so he might take a some time
to do it.

When it did get reviewed and committed, I knew instantly. By automation,
as You suggest. By adding a simple filter rule in my mailing client to
alert me when something gets pushed to mesa-commit mailing list
containing my name.
As I like to say it in such cases "wow, that was hard" \_(:_/

So, as a by definition and "outsider"/"newcomer" contributor I can say
I encountered zero problems with the process. 
 
>> Most of your questions' answers naturally fall out from that.
> 
> Not in my world.
> 
>> This mailing list is what's important.
> 
> In my opinion, now isn't the 1990-ties. (This is just my personal
> opinion, you do not need to agree with it.)
> 
>>> - What is the influence of the default ordering (URL suffix
>>> "?ordering=-last_updated") on the behavior of reviewers?
>>
>> Probably zero, because I doubt people go via Patchwork.
> 
> In that case, the process might be even less efficient than I though.
> 
>>> - What about those patches on the 10th page from previous year? Why
>>> are they in the list?
>>
>> Nothing.
>>
>>> - Do patch submitters regularly clean up outdated patches?
>>
>> No.
>>
>>> - Does a patch submitter receive a notification email when he/she
>>> forgets about a patch over time?
>>
>> No.
>>
>>> It seems to me that the current review process isn't as efficient as it
>>> can be.
>>
>> To be blunt: that may be the case, but even if so, it's extremely unlikely
>> bordering on the impossible that comments from the sideline from somebody
>> who hasn't got an experience of contributing could ever be helpful.
> 
> Outsiders and enemies. That is so ... cool.

Again, I was and still am very much an outsider, I should say.
But a bit of sincere modesty goes a long way. And it did for me.

Please do note that I am just sharing my experiences and providing and
opinion of a "newcomer"/"outsider" here.
And my opinion is that it is not broken. And what is not broken does not need
any fixing.

I do not know how You are, Mr./Ms./Mrs. Atom-icon. Since that means You could
be anything from a lowly troll to a wizard in disguise dispensing wisdom,
I shall not dare to question Your credibility on the matter, but I must
point out that this makes it tad complicated to take You as someone serious
instead of someone who is just bored and has nothing better to do. I believe
You should realize that.

Lastly, I agree that some points You made do make a lot sense "on paper".
Sadly, that does not mean they always end up being good in practice.
Since I do plan on contributing to mesa again in the future, I am quite eager
to see how this turns out in the end, so I shall be watching closely. Oh boy! :]

Those are my 2¢
I Hope the currency of the said 2¢ is strong, making it a valuable 2¢, if You
catch my drift... ;]

- 
Gediminas Jakutis
LDK Varčiai www.varciai.lt

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