[jsp-dev] Benefits of using PRs for all changes

[Mark Thomas <markt@xxxxxxxxxx>]

In the thread on relaxing the commit restrictions the view was expressed 
that changes via PR are always preferable to direct commits. I'd like to 
explore that.

I can see the benefits for use PRs to discuss substantive changes. Fore 
this project I'm broadly thinking of a substantive change as something 
that is going to require a change/addition to the TCK - something that 
changes the specification.

I don't see the benefit of using PR to - for example - fix a typo, 
correct a copyright date, fix an IDE warning (e.g. add a missing 
@Override annotation etc.).

Generally, I don't like PRs because they are GitHub specific. If we 
migrate away from GitHub - and this project has been through multiple 
version control systems in its history and I see no reason why its 
future will be different - then the information in the PR if not lost, 
will at least be detached from the source. I would much rather rely on 
good commit messages and code comments to pass on the 'why' of a change 
to the committers that follow.

The email archive of PR discussions is not easy to read 
contemporaneously. It is even harder to read for historic issues. I 
regularly find myself having to use the web interface to make sense of a 
series of comments on a PR I read on the mailing list.

I'm on the fence as to whether the benefits we get from using PRs is 
worth the risks. I think it is a very close call.

What to others see as the benefits (or risks) using PRs for everything?

Mark