I agree with what you said. It suggests to me that providing a strong critique is not always good, at least in public, unless you are very tactful. Better to find a minimal set of hints that makes it clear what people interested in the patch can do next.
LinuxCon Japan: Making kernel developers less grumpy
Posted Jun 13, 2012 18:02 UTC (Wed) by bronson (subscriber, #4806)
[Link]
That would be true if patch reviewers were in unlimited (or even sufficient) supply, and if iteration was a viable way to develop a decently sized kernel patch.