Matt Turner posted on Sun, 11 Oct 2015 09:56:28 -0700 as excerpted: > Mailing list review is the *norm* in the free software world.
Just noting that I've been watching this first-hand on both the gentoo- portage-dev list and the btrfs list. I don't claim to be a coder, but I often make it a point to read comments and the vX patch revision notes, because it's both informative (even to a more admin than dev user) and exciting to watch as a patch develops and matures thru multiple rounds of review. And I'd say it's roughly equally often that the original patch submitter is able to point out to the reviewer that they overlooked something that answers the question, vs "oops, I overlooked that possibility, thanks!" Either way, both parties (as well as other interested parties reading the exchange) end up with a keener appreciation of how things actually work, resulting in both a better patch in the near term, and better coders who much more thoroughly understand the domain in which they're working, in the longer term. It's absolutely /not/ about being right or being wrong, but about the process of both the patch submitter and the reviewer together growing in their understanding of the code they both work with, and in the better end result that comes of that process. And it really /is/ a neat thing to watch unfold, as I have the privilege of doing both on the portage-dev list and on the btrfs list, because they /are/ public and open. =:^) -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman
