write w/o approval policy (Re: [PATCH] clarify comments for implicit_p flag for built-ins)

[Martin Sebor]

Ping: https://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc-patches/2018-11/msg01759.html
If there are no objections or suggestions for tweaks I'll commit
this updated comment this week.

Please do not commit such changes w/o approval.

Since you're the second maintainer to ask me that in response
to a patch to update comments I'd like to get some clarity here.

I have been assuming that the GCC Write access policy (quoted
below) lets those of us with write-after-approval make a judgment
call as to when a change is sufficiently safe to commit:

Obvious fixes can be committed without prior approval. Just
check in the fix and copy it to gcc-patches. A good test to
determine whether a fix is obvious: "will the person who
objects to my work the most be able to find a fault with my
fix?" If the fix is later found to be faulty, it can always
be rolled back. We don't want to get overly restrictive about
checkin policies.

(https://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/svnwrite.html#policies)

If we are not at liberty to make this judgment call in even
the most innocuous cases like comments, when does this policy
actually apply? (It should be updated to make it clear.)

Thanks
Martin

[Jeff Law]

Post by Martin Sebor

Ping: https://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc-patches/2018-11/msg01759.html
If there are no objections or suggestions for tweaks I'll commit
this updated comment this week.

Please do not commit such changes w/o approval.

Since you're the second maintainer to ask me that in response
to a patch to update comments I'd like to get some clarity here.
I have been assuming that the GCC Write access policy (quoted
below) lets those of us with write-after-approval make a judgment
  Obvious fixes can be committed without prior approval.  Just
  check in the fix and copy it to gcc-patches. A good test to
  determine whether a fix is obvious: "will the person who
  objects to my work the most be able to find a fault with my
  fix?"  If the fix is later found to be faulty, it can always
  be rolled back. We don't want to get overly restrictive about
  checkin policies.
  (https://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/svnwrite.html#policies)
If we are not at liberty to make this judgment call in even
the most innocuous cases like comments, when does this policy
actually apply?  (It should be updated to make it clear.)

The thing is I looked at the patch and it was far from obvious what was
going on. Thus I put it in my queue of things to dig deeper into. I
haven't done that digging yet.

Comments are actually important. They often describe what the code is
supposed to do, rationale, historical context, etc. Just because we're
changing a comment doesn't mean it's inherently trivial/obvious.

I'm generally supportive of lessening friction for developers and I
welcome proposals to do that.

Jeff