Re: Process for reviewing patches as someone without commit access

[Felix Lechner]

Hi Chris,

On Wed, Sep 6, 2023 at 9:47 AM Christopher Baines <mail@cbaines.net> wrote:
>
> Maybe we can use debbugs tags for this?

Instead of pushing people into reviews and then again making the same
committers a bottleneck, I would offer some entry-level contributors
commit rights but require that they obtain approval for some steps. It
can be done on a trust basis.

That way, you can train a new generation of committers while getting
the work done.

Advancing to a higher level requires a majority approval of the
maintainer collective. Same for revocations.

*** Contributor levels ***

1. Add new packages or fix documentation. This simple activity focuses
on fitness of software for Guix, including licensing. Finding a good
place in the file tree is also part of this job. Sign off required.

Novice levels, all require review by someone with a higher level

2. Update existing packages. Here, a contributor must be aware of how
updates affect consuming packages. Ideally, this activity would
include knowledge of CI, including the pre-compilation of all
consumers in order to avoid build failures before the change is
committed. No new inputs or phases. Hash updates only.
3. Modify inputs and build phases. Requires the mastery of
G-Expressions and a detailed knowledge of the particular build system
involved.
4. Rename package variables or change inheritance. This is for experts
in tool chains like Golang, or a technology like Emacs.

Intermediate levels:

5. Add new services
6. Edit existing services (after review)
7. Change Guix records outside of services, for example for
operating-system (after review).
https://lepiller.eu/en/a-deep-dive-into-guix-records.html

Advanced levels

8. Modify command-line behavior of the Guix executable (after review)
9. Change the Guix daemon (after review)

Black belt

10. No restrictions, and no reviews or approvals needed.

Kind regards
Felix