Improving Merge Request review processes

[Simon Peyton Jones]

>
> The majority of contributors don't have the rights to modify labels on
> merge requests. It might be good to add a few words of advice for that
> group: What should *they* do if their MR needs attention?
>

Oh!  That is bad.  It's no good us saying "add label X" if they can't add a
label.  Can we give everyone rights to modify labels?

Also: I have noticed that many MRs (hilariously including !10709) start
with "Thank you for your contribution to GHC".  That always irritates me:
it suggests that the author has not really bothered to write a proper MR
description.   The template isn't really a template: it's more *guidance *about
how to submit a MR, which we also supply at
https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc/-/wikis/Contributing-a-Patch.    (And if
the template is widely used, as it seems to be though I don't know how
people find it initially, it should point to that wiki page.)

I'm not quite sure how to resolve this.  Maybe make the template be truly a
template, and point to the wiki page for all content?

Simon

On Tue, 27 Jun 2023 at 06:53, Bryan Richter <bryan at haskell.foundation>
wrote:

> The majority of contributors don't have the rights to modify labels on
> merge requests. It might be good to add a few words of advice for that
> group: What should *they* do if their MR needs attention?
>
> Thanks for this effort! The vast, vast majority of GHC contributors are
> the ones who haven't even heard of it yet, or aren't even born yet. High
> quality information on how things work and how to get started will be the
> key to growing the ranks of GHC experts over time.
>
> On Fri, 23 Jun 2023 at 18:40, Matthew Pickering <
> matthewtpickering at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have modified the MR template -
>> https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc/-/merge_requests/10709
>>
>> and updated the wiki page that simon points out.
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 23, 2023 at 11:25 AM Simon Peyton Jones
>> <simon.peytonjones at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Terrific.
>> >
>> > We just need to add some guidance for contributors about when and how
>> to use the new tag.
>> >
>> > Where should that guidance live?  We have the Contributing to GHC wiki
>> page.  It in turn (not very prominently) points to Contributing a patch.
>> Are these our primary pages?  If so, perhaps the latter is the one to edit?
>> >
>> > Simon
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, 23 Jun 2023 at 11:14, Matthew Pickering <
>> matthewtpickering at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> We discussed this in the meeting on Tuesday.
>> >>
>> >> The conclusion was that
>> >>
>> >> * We now have a new label "Blocked on Review", which people can add to
>> >> merge requests if they are blocked waiting for a review.
>> >> * The "Reviewer Group" is taken to be the same as the "GHC Team" (see
>> >> https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc-hq/-/tree/main), hence people
>> >> trusted to be part of the GHC team are expected to perform review as
>> >> well.
>> >> * We will take up some of the time on the Tuesday meeting by talking
>> >> about merge requests which are blocked and assigning them to people
>> >> for review.
>> >>
>> >> Cheers,
>> >>
>> >> Matt
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 10:03 PM Matthew Pickering
>> >> <matthewtpickering at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > Hi all,
>> >> >
>> >> > Recently there has been some discussion about better systems and
>> >> > processes for keeping the flow of merge requests going smoothly
>> >> > through the review process. It has become clear that we need to be a
>> >> > bit more deliberate in handling merge requests in order to make sure
>> >> > we can correctly triage, review and merge the many fantastic
>> >> > contributions we get to GHC on a daily basis.
>> >> >
>> >> > Therefore we are proposing to introduce a "GHC Reviewer Group" whose
>> >> > members will share collective responsibility for ensuring that MRs
>> >> > make their way smoothly from creation to merge.
>> >> >
>> >> > The description of the role and responsibility for this group can be
>> >> > read and commented on here:
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FK9mryjC82DM6e5yxP7BOgu94As2bXccb55L8OrjPf4/edit?usp=sharing
>> >> >
>> >> > The motivation for this proposal is two-fold.
>> >> >
>> >> > * Ensuring that MRs are reviewed and triaged in a timely manner.
>> >> > * Documenting where the responsibility for MR reviewing
>> >> >
>> >> > We welcome any discussion about this document and other ideas about
>> >> > how to improve the systems in this regard.
>> >> >
>> >> > Cheers,
>> >> >
>> >> > Matt
>> >> _______________________________________________
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