Hi! I encouraged DDs and DMs to review open Merge Requests on Salsa back in January: https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2025/01/msg00267.html. Hopefully folks can continue with doing reviews!
## Priority: Check MRs for your own packages Please remember to check if your package has open MRs *at least once* before the next upload! I have now witnessed several cases where a maintainer blatantly ignored the MRs their package received. It is demotivating to new aspiring Debian contributors to put in significant effort to learn the complexities of Debian packaging and submit an improvement, only to see that the maintainer two months later didn't look at the MR at all, and instead implemented the same change themselves, and the submitter's work essentially got wasted. You can check open MRs from the command line with `salsa merge_requests` (https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/devscripts/salsa.1.en.html) if you don't like checking the Salsa project page. ## Nice to do: Check MRs team packages and other maintainer's packages If you have time and all of your own packages are in good condition, please help other packages by reviewing their open MRs. You don't need to be a domain expert to contribute a review. Number of open MRs / total (and growth since January 2025): 896/10545 (+888) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/debian/-/merge_requests 96/3174 (+116) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/go-team/-/merge_requests 79/2526 (+190) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/python-team/-/merge_requests 34/2065 (+379) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/kernel-team/-/merge_requests 56/1721 (+230) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/gnome-team/-/merge_requests 614/1280 (+38) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/java-team/-/merge_requests 83/1013 (+33) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/multimedia-team/-/merge_requests 55/1122 (+158) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/rust-team/-/merge_requests 21/1053 (+171) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/DebianOnMobile-team/-/merge_requests 142/828 (+67) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/installer-team/-/merge_requests 28/816 (+91) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/games-team/-/merge_requests 27/658 (+53) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/Mobian-team/-/merge_requests 17/451 (+7) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/js-team/-/merge_requests 17/372 (+29) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/libvirt-team/-/merge_requests 1/288 (+6) https://salsa.debian.org/groups/med-team/-/merge_requests ## Why this can help Debian Personally, I like posting and reviewing MRs, as I believe it - makes Debian packaging more fun and social compared to people just working alone on their own packages - elevates the quality of packages with "more eyeballs on it" - helps people discover new things when they see what other people do, and be a learning opportunity both for the submitter and the reviewer I also think Merge Requests can be a good way to decrease the negative aspects of "single-maintainer packages". It brings in the benefits of more people looking at code changes and new upstream versions and fostering collaboration in the package preparation phase, while still retaining the benefits of long-term ownership by having one clear main committer and uploader.
