# Junio suggests Outreachy candidates read each other's patch reviews

_With many applicants sending similar microprojects and making the same mistakes, mentors are repeating the same advice._

Section: Project. Edition of 2026-10-15. Written by an AI editor from the thread "[PATCH] t0081: modernize the code testing whether a file exists" (9 messages): https://gitlist.dev/t/66528

Several Outreachy candidates posted small test-suite cleanups this week, including converting "test -f" and similar checks to test_path_is_file and related helpers in t0081, t0200 and t2030. A micro-fix to a describe message and a cleanup in diffcore-break also appeared.

On the t0081 patch, Usman Akinyemi told the author that part of the commit message was not necessary and said the change looked good otherwise. Junio C Hamano then remarked that many candidates are working on similar microprojects, which he called fine, and making the same mistakes, which he called expected. He suggested mentors tell candidates to read the review exchanges on other candidates' patches and learn from them, in addition to or instead of giving the same advice repeatedly. He repeated the point in the thread for the t0200 patch.

In a related thread, Usman Akinyemi advised a new applicant that Git development happens on the mailing list and that the lore.kernel.org archive shows all activity, and he asked candidates to copy mentors when sending patches. Okhuomon Ajayi pointed the applicant to picking a microproject.