On Wed, May 03, 2023 at 04:37:36PM +0100, Lorenzo Stoakes wrote: > As an outside observer, I can assure you that absolutely came across as a > personal attack, and the precise kind that puts people off from > contributing. I should know as a hobbyist contributor myself. > > > If I was mistaken I do apologize, but lately I've run across quite a lot > > of people offering review feedback to patches I post that turn out to > > have 0 or 10 patches in the kernel, and - to be blunt - a pattern of > > offering feedback in strong language with a presumption of experience > > that takes a lot to respond to adequately on a technical basis. > > > > I, who may very well not merit being considered a contributor of > significant merit in your view, have had such 'drive-by' commentary on some > of my patches by precisely this type of person, and at no time felt the > need to question whether they were a true Scotsman or not. It's simply not > productive. > > > I don't think a suggestion to spend a bit more time reading code instead > > of speculating is out of order! We could all, put more effort into how > > we offer review feedback. > > It's the means by which you say it that counts for everything. If you feel > the technical comments might not be merited on a deeper level, perhaps ask > a broader question, or even don't respond at all? There are other means > available. > > It's remarkable the impact comments like the one you made can have on > contributors, certainly those of us who are not maintainers and are > naturally plagued with imposter syndrome, so I would ask you on a human > level to try to be a little more considerate. > > By all means address technical issues as robustly as you feel appropriate, > that is after all the purpose of code review, but just take a step back and > perhaps find the 'cuddlier' side of yourself when not addressing technical > things :) Thanks for your reply, it's level headed and appreciated. But I personally value directness, and I see quite a few people in this thread going all out on the tone policing - but look, without the directness the confusion (that Petr is not actually a new contributor) never would've been cleared up. Food for thought, perhaps?
