We don't handle GitHub pull requests well. Should we change something?
The issue:
- there is a "mirror" of svn source code on GitHub [1]
- that makes it look like people could submit pull-requests
- a (very) few people have tried to do so [2]
- it isn't integrated with our project work flow
- svn committers don't even have basic permissions to manage
PRs, such as closing a PR
- those potential contributors get a very poor response
(PRs left unacknowledged or abandoned in "open" state)
Some potential options:
* turn off the github "mirror" of svn entirely
- replace it with a dummy project that just says where to find us
* try to persuade ASF infra and GitHub to turn off the PRs UI
- previously said to be not possible
* move svn source from svn to git (ASF gitbox) hosting
- then a github 2-way integration will be available
My thoughts:
The poor experience is not much of a real problem at the moment because
the number of interactions is so tiny (10 in 7 years), but it gives a
bad impression and I prefer to avoid ugliness like this. Moving to git
would probably be pragmatic in objective terms, but of course terribly
emotive so might cause more upset and ridicule than it's worth. Turning
off PRs might be best, so might be worth asking again if it's possible.
Your thoughts?
[1] https://github.com/apache/subversion
[2] https://github.com/apache/subversion/pulls?q=is%3Apr
Julian Foad wrote:
> Branko Čibej wrote:
>> Julian Foad wrote:
>>> * When the facility to contribute in this way (PRs) is available, it is because We, the ASF community, have made it so, and we can turn it off if we don't like it.
>>
>> [...] we can request that Infra removes *our* GitHub
>> mirror, just as we requested in the past that it creates one.
>
> Exactly: our project gets to say what goes for our project.
>
>> I'd rather
>> see the ability to submit pull requests disabled for that mirror, though.
>
> Me too. GH, as a closed system, intentionally limits what we can do with it. I'm pretty sure I asked in the past to turn off PRs and was told that's not possible. I'm pretty sure with GitLab we could turn off PRs.
>
>>> * I think the PR style of contribution is useful.
>>
>> I think it is not. This style seems to be designed specifically so that
>> contributors have to interact with the community as *little* as
>> possible. [...]
>
> That is certainly the effect we get from GitHub's PRs and the ASF non-integration, but it's not necessarily true of the PR concept in general.
Received on 2019-06-19 11:47:23 CEST