Re: Non-committer reviews: is it helpful?

On Fri, Jan 30, 2026 at 01:07:20AM +0300, Alexander Borisov wrote:
> I saw that reviews by third parties (not contributors and committers)
> are included in the commit log header.
>
> In general, I want to understand how useful this is for committers.

There are several level of reviews, of course, but I tend to find all
of them useful. Even a small set of contributions like checking if a
patch runs or catching typo or project-style mistakes is the set of
things that helps in reducing the overall workload when a patch is
picked up to be integrated into the tree.

This is a very situational and case-by-case handling, of course. It
makes more sense to question the design of a 3k patch than complain
about two typos in it. A trend that I think lacks a lot in terms of
patch authors and reviews is that it is usually possible to split a
patch in multiple simpler patches, where initial pieces are more
focused on refactoring or some beautification. I'd encourage authors
and reviewers in spending time in finding and in suggesting such
things, as it can reduce a lot the work overall. And it's easier to
pick up for a committer.
--
Michael