git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

[PATCH v2 2/3] Documentation: clarify and expand description of --signoff

From
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date
Oct 18, 2020, 19:49 UTC
Message-ID
<20201018194912.2716372-3-gitster@pobox.com>
In-Reply-To
<20201018194912.2716372-1-gitster@pobox.com>
From: "Bradley M. Kuhn" <bkuhn@sfconservancy.org>

Building on past documentation improvements in b2c150d3aa (Expand documentation describing --signoff, 2016-01-05), further clarify that any project using Git may and often does set its own policy.

However, leave intact reference to the Linux DCO, which Git also uses. It is reasonable for Git to advocate for its own Signed-off-by methodology in its documentation, as long as the documentation remains respectful that YMMV and other projects may well have very different contributor representations tied to Signed-off-by.

Signed-off-by: Bradley M. Kuhn <bkuhn@sfconservancy.org>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
---
 Documentation/signoff-option.txt | 16 ++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/signoff-option.txt b/Documentation/signoff-option.txt
index d1c6713774..fbff8dd5be 100644
--- a/Documentation/signoff-option.txt
+++ b/Documentation/signoff-option.txt
@@ -3,12 +3,16 @@ ifdef::git-commit[]
 endif::git-commit[]
 --signoff::
 --no-signoff::
-	Add Signed-off-by line by the committer at the end of the commit
-	log message.  The meaning of a signoff depends on the project,
-	but it typically certifies that committer has
-	the rights to submit this work under the same license and
-	agrees to a Developer Certificate of Origin
-	(see http://developercertificate.org/ for more information).
+	Add a Signed-off-by trailer by the committer at the end of the commit
+	log message.  The meaning of a signoff depends on the project
+	to which you're committing.  For example, it may certify that
+	the committer has the rights to submit the work under the
+	project's license or agrees to some contributor representation,
+	such as a Developer Certificate of Origin.
+	(See http://developercertificate.org for the one used by the
+	Linux kernel and Git projects.)  Consult the documentation or
+	leadership of the project to which you're contributing to
+	understand how the signoffs are used in that project.
 +
 The --no-signoff option can be used to countermand an earlier --signoff
 option on the command line.
-- 
2.29.0-rc2-130-g9dc1ca14f3
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 3 of 5 in “Claryfing the meaning of the sign-off”
  1. 0/3 Claryfing the meaning of the sign-offJunio C Hamano, Oct 18, 2020
  2. 1/3 doc: preparatory clean-up of description on the sign-off optionJunio C Hamano, Oct 18, 2020
  3. 2/3 Documentation: clarify and expand description of --signoffJunio C Hamano, Oct 18, 2020
  4. 3/3 SubmittingPatches: clarify DCO is our --signoff ruleJunio C Hamano, Oct 18, 2020
  5. Taylor BlauOct 18, 2020

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.