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

["Philippe Mathieu-Daudé" <philmd@linaro.org>]

On 21/10/24 16:09, Daniel P. Berrangé 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.
> 
> [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(-)


> +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.

Reviewed-by: Philippe Mathieu-Daudé <philmd@linaro.org>