Re: [PATCH] docs: explicitly permit a "commonly known identity" with SoB

[Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 5568 bytes --]

On Fri, Nov 15, 2024 at 03:19:40PM +0000, Peter Maydell wrote:
> On Mon, 21 Oct 2024 at 20:10, Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com> wrote:
> >
> > The docs for submitting a patch describe using your "Real Name" with
> > the Signed-off-by line. Although somewhat ambiguous, this has often
> > been interpreted to mean someone's legal name.
> >
> > In recent times, there's been a general push back[1] against the notion
> > that use of Signed-off-by in a project automatically requires / implies
> > the use of legal ("real") names and greater awareness of the downsides.
> >
> > Full discussion of the problems of such policies is beyond the scope of
> > this commit message, but at a high level they are liable to marginalize,
> > disadvantage, and potentially result in harm, to contributors.
> >
> > TL;DR: there are compelling reasons for a person to choose distinct
> > identities in different contexts & a decision to override that choice
> > should not be taken lightly.
> >
> > A number of key projects have responded to the issues raised by making
> > it clear that a contributor is free to determine the identity used in
> > SoB lines:
> >
> >  * Linux has clarified[2] that they merely expect use of the
> >    contributor's "known identity", removing the previous explicit
> >    rejection of pseudonyms.
> >
> >  * CNCF has clarified[3] that the real name is simply the identity
> >    the contributor chooses to use in the context of the community
> >    and does not have to be a legal name, nor birth name, nor appear
> >    on any government ID.
> >
> > Since we have no intention of ever routinely checking any form of ID
> > documents for contributors[4], realistically we have no way of knowing
> > anything about the name they are using, except through chance, or
> > through the contributor volunteering the information. IOW, we almost
> > certainly already have people using pseudonyms for contributions.
> >
> > This proposes to accept that reality and eliminate unnecessary friction,
> > by following Linux & the CNCF in merely asking that a contributors'
> > commonly known identity, of their choosing, be used with the SoB line.
> 
> This all makes sense to me -- we've never really had our own
> independent take on the DCO, we just followed what the kernel did.
> 
> I have cc'd people listed in MAINTAINERS under "project policy"
> and the more active members of the Leadership Committee to
> bring it to a slightly wider circle of attention.
> 
> Unless there are any objections over the course of the next week,
> I think we should commit this change, so it has my
> 
> Acked-by: Peter Maydell <peter.maydell@linaro.org>
> 
> 
> > [1] Raised in many contexts at many times, but a decent overall summary
> >     can be read at https://drewdevault.com/2023/10/31/On-real-names.html
> > [2] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=d4563201f33a022fc0353033d9dfeb1606a88330
> > [3] https://github.com/cncf/foundation/blob/659fd32c86dc/dco-guidelines.md
> > [4] Excluding the rare GPG key signing parties for regular maintainers
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
> > ---
> >  .gitlab-ci.d/check-dco.py         | 5 ++++-
> >  docs/devel/submitting-a-patch.rst | 7 ++++++-
> >  2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.d/check-dco.py b/.gitlab-ci.d/check-dco.py
> > index 632c8bcce8..6a06afffe5 100755
> > --- a/.gitlab-ci.d/check-dco.py
> > +++ b/.gitlab-ci.d/check-dco.py
> > @@ -79,7 +79,10 @@
> >
> >  To indicate acceptance of the DCO every commit must have a tag
> >
> > -  Signed-off-by: REAL NAME <EMAIL>
> > +  Signed-off-by: YOUR NAME <EMAIL>
> > +
> > +where "YOUR NAME" is your commonly known identity in the context
> > +of the community.
> >
> >  This can be achieved by passing the "-s" flag to the "git commit" command.
> >
> > diff --git a/docs/devel/submitting-a-patch.rst b/docs/devel/submitting-a-patch.rst
> > index 83e9092b8c..10b062eec2 100644
> > --- a/docs/devel/submitting-a-patch.rst
> > +++ b/docs/devel/submitting-a-patch.rst
> > @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ one-shot fix, the bare minimum we ask is that:
> >
> >     * - Check
> >       - Reason
> > -   * - Patches contain Signed-off-by: Real Name <author@email>
> > +   * - Patches contain Signed-off-by: Your Name <author@email>
> >       - States you are legally able to contribute the code. See :ref:`patch_emails_must_include_a_signed_off_by_line`
> >     * - Sent as patch emails to ``qemu-devel@nongnu.org``
> >       - The project uses an email list based workflow. See :ref:`submitting_your_patches`
> > @@ -335,6 +335,11 @@ include a "From:" line in the body of the email (different from your
> >  envelope From:) that will give credit to the correct author; but again,
> >  that author's Signed-off-by: line is mandatory, with the same spelling.
> >
> > +The name used with "Signed-off-by" does not need to be your legal name,
> > +nor birth name, nor appear on any government ID. It is the identity you
> > +choose to be known by in the community, but should not be anonymous,
> > +nor misrepresent whom you are.
> 
> Grammar nit: should be "who".
> 
> > +
> >  There are various tooling options for automatically adding these tags
> >  include using ``git commit -s`` or ``git format-patch -s``. For more
> >  information see `SubmittingPatches 1.12
> > --
> 
> thanks
> -- PMM
> 

Acked-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 488 bytes --]