From: Johannes Sixt Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:15:09 GMT Subject: Re: Would it make sense to add a commit.signOff config? Message-ID: <706588fa-97f7-40b1-86c9-8e5c944c173a@kdbg.org> In-Reply-To: Am 16.12.25 um 01:17 schrieb Elijah Newren: > On Sun, Dec 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM Junio C Hamano wrote: >> --- c/Documentation/gitfaq.adoc >> +++ w/Documentation/gitfaq.adoc >> @@ -83,6 +83,21 @@ Windows would be the configuration `"C:\Program Files\Vim\gvim.exe" --nofork`, >> which quotes the filename with spaces and specifies the `--nofork` option to >> avoid backgrounding the process. >> >> +[[sign-off]] >> +Why not have `commit.signoff` and other configuration variables?:: >> + As it makes it harder to argue against one who tells the court >> + "the log message of the commit ends with a Signed-off-by >> + trailer by person X, but it is very plausible that it was done >> + by inertia without person X really intending to certify what >> + DCO says, hence the Signed-off-by trailer is meaningless", if >> + we add more publicized ways to add sign-off automatically, Git >> + does not (and will not) have a configuration variable to >> + enable the `--signoff` command line option it by default. > > This feels kind of hard to parse for me. Maybe it's just the lack of > sentence breaks, particularly near the end. Let me take a stab at an > alternative: > > Git intentionally does not (and will not) provide a configuration variable, > such as `commit.signoff`, to automatically add `--signoff` by default. > The reason is to protect the legal and intentional significance of a sign-off. > If there were more automated and widely publicized ways for sign-offs to be > appended, it would become easier for someone to argue later that a > "Signed-off-by" trailer was just added out of habit or by automation, > without the committer's full awareness or intent to certify their agreement > with the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) or a similar statement. > This would weaken the sign-off’s value and could undermine its credibility > in legal or contractual situations. To uphold the integrity of a sign-off, > Git only adds it when explicitly requested, rather than through automatic > configuration settings. > > Maybe the last sentence or two are a bit redundant and could be > stricken. Anyway, thoughts? This is much easier to read. I'd shorten the last two sentences to This could undermine the sign-off’s credibility in legal or contractual situations. -- Hannes