Subject: Re: Reviewed-by given by celebrities (no subject matter expertise on Git development)

From: Junio C Hamano <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Apr 2021 19:27:12 -0700

Bagas Sanjaya <[email-masked]> writes:

> Junio, what will you do in such situation above (celebrities reviewing
> patches and giving Reviewed-by despite of lack of subject matter
> expertise)?

I find the scenario highly unlikely, and I do not see the point of
wasting my time on a trick question, thinking about what I would do
in a scenario that is not realistic, so I was tempted to ignore this
message.  If you have something you really want to ask, ask it
directly instead.

But I'll make it an exception this case, since you are relatively
new.

I do not think the celebrity status of a person who sends a
Reviewed-by matters.  What matters aroud here is the quality of
review that comes with "Reviewed-by".

Just a "Reviewed-by" without comments would most likely not count at
all, unless the perceived competence and expertise the reviewer
possesses in the area is reasonably high.

The "perceived" is a rather important word here.  It does not matter
how good one actually is.  One must have had demonstrated one's
competence and expertise on the list sufficiently to earn trust by
other readers on the list for one's "Reviewed-by" to really count.

"I read the patch with fine toothed comb, I found it very well done,
I have nothing else to add.", coming from somebody who is KNOWN to
know the area the patch touches well, would mean a lot.  When the
same statement was given by somebody who hasn't earned the trust of
the collective mind on the list, regardless of the celebrity status,
would mean a lot less.