+1 in general for the idea :-) We already have this rule in Contributing Guidelines in 1.17.3 :-)
https://github.com/apache/nuttx/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#117-merge-rules 1.17.3. Merge of PRs with unresolved discussions and "change request" marks is not allowed. Another story if contributors and maintainers adhere to the CG ;-) Tomek On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM Matteo Golin <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello everyone, > > I am proposing a vote for a new rule surrounding PR reviews for the NuttX > project. > > As you might know, it is possible to "request changes" on GitHub when > reviewing > a PR. If changes are requested, it is not possible for the PR to be merged > until > the reviewer who has requested changes dismisses their request or approves the > PR. > > However, an unfortunate ability on GitHub is that anyone with write access (or > higher) privileges on the repository can dismiss a reviewer's change request. > Unfortunately, this has been used at least twice recently to merge a PR for > which reviewers requested changes, which is quite frustrating for the > reviewer(s) and does not respect their feedback. I don't think this ability > fits > with NuttX's ideals of ensuring quality code, and I also think it alienates > the > reviewers (we have very few of them, so that is bad). > > My proposal for the rule is as follows: > > 1. A change-request made by a reviewer can only be "self-dismissed". This > indicates the reviewer has been satisfied by the changes made or they have > been > convinced that their change request is not necessary. > > 2. If the reviewer is not responsive due to absence (minimum 72 hours), or > other > reviewers of the PR believe that the reviewer's concern is invalid, a VOTE can > be made on the mailing list to overturn the change request. If the VOTE > passes, > this is the only scenario where the request can be dismissed by someone else. > > I have included item 2 as a contingency, although I don't expect this scenario > to happen often if at all. I suggest that if the vote passes, this rule be > included in the contributing guidelines (if there are better locations, please > suggest them). > > I would also just take this opportunity to say: if you have comments regarding > changes to a PR, use a change request! The NuttX reviewers are often too nice > and only leave comments, or approve a PR but include some feedback in the > approval message. Using a change-request prevents the PR from getting > accidentally merged while the changes are pending, and that keeps the quality > higher :) > > -- > Matteo Golin -- CeDeROM, SQ7MHZ, http://www.tomek.cedro.info
