[petsc-dev] Handling pull requests in a better way

[Smith, Barry F.]

> On Mar 1, 2018, at 10:40 PM, Karl Rupp <rupp at iue.tuwien.ac.at> wrote:
> 
> Hey,
> 
>>    I think people who are integrators should be responsible for their own pull requests.
> 
> yes, agreed, that's the most efficient way.
> 
> Still, the majority of open PRs is from developers who are not integrators. These are the ones that tend to hang around for too long.

  Yes, we need mechanisms to move these through efficiently.

> 
> Best regards,
> Karli

  But I've found people often neglect their own pull requests. Maybe we need to set up a system that sends nagging emails regularly about out-standing requests.

> 
> 
> 
> 
>>> On Mar 1, 2018, at 5:33 AM, Karl Rupp <rupp at iue.tuwien.ac.at> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear PETSc folks,
>>> 
>>> I think we can do a better job when it comes to handling pull requests (PRs). We have several PRs piling up, which after some time (imho) get merged relatively carelessly instead of reaping the full benefits of a thorough review.
>>> 
>>> In order to improve the integration of pull requests, I propose to nominate a PR integrator, who is a-priori responsible for *all* incoming PRs. The PR integrator is free to delegate a particular PR integration to someone with the relevant domain-specific knowledge (e.g. Matt for DMPlex-related things) by appropriate comments on Bitbucket. In case of delays, the PR integrator is also responsible for issuing reminders over time (like Barry has done in the past).
>>> 
>>> The idea is to make daily progress with the PRs. One integration step per day (e.g. testing or merging to next) is presumably enough to handle the load, whereas things get messy if we let things pile up. Automated testing may help a bit in the future, but it doesn't release us from properly reviewing the contributed code.
>>> 
>>> Any objections to my PR integrator proposal? Any volunteers? ;-)
>>> If nobody else wants to be the highly esteemed PR integrator, I can do it. ;-)
>>> 
>>> Best regards,
>>> Karli