Re: [PATCH v3 0/1] update MAINTAINERS file with git trailers

[Kevin Buettner <kevinb@redhat.com>]

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:56:51 +0200
Bruno Larsen <blarsen@redhat.com> wrote:

> Right now there is one big unanswered question: Should we have a
> specific tag to explicitly signal when a patch has been partially
> approved? Eli asked for it to avoid people mechanically reading tags
> from thinking that a patch has been fully approved when it was only
> partial.

I don't think we need a tag for this.  Since we review and/or approve
patches via email, I think some additional text stating which portions
were reviewed or approved is sufficient.

Suppose I'm an area maintainer or a global maintainer who has confident
knowledge of a particular area.  I might then do something like this:

    For the mn10300 architecture portions:
    Approved-by: Kevin Buettner <kevinb@redhat.com>

Only the Approved-by tag would be added to the git trailer, but it's
clear to anyone involved in the approval process that I haven't
approved the patch in its entirety, only certain parts.  If I were to
review the rest of the patch, but not approve it, I see nothing wrong
with also saying:

    For everything else:
    Reviewed-by: Kevin Buettner <kevinb@redhat.com>

I also see nothing wrong with qualifying the 'Reviewed-by' or
'Acked-by' tags.  Yes, we might end up with a patchwork of reviews,
but we might also get more people involved with the review process,
which I think would be a good thing.

If we really want to include the portions reviewed in the trailer, then
I suggest extending the format of the trailer, perhaps like this:

    Approved-by: Kevin Buettner <kevinb@redhat.com> (mn10300 only)

Kevin