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

Re: Would it make sense to add a commit.signOff config?

From
Collin Funk <collin.funk1@gmail.com>
Date
Dec 14, 2025, 23:52 UTC
Message-ID
<87zf7k39l2.fsf@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<xmqqsedc8w7k.fsf@gitster.g>
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
Show 21 quoted lines
> Carlo Marcelo Arenas Belón <carenas@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> this was discussed recently[0] and the point that was made is that SOA are
>> meant to be relevant mainly in open source contexts and should be explicitly
>> given.
>>
>> Carlo
>>
>> [0] https://lore.kernel.org/git/xmqq4iwvfx8s.fsf@gitster.g/
>
> Thanks for a spelunking starter.
>
> Perhaps we should resurrect a proposed patch from 2020 (which no
> longer apply cleanly, but quoted to show what the additinoal text
> said).
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/git/xmqqpnfw8gyn.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com/
>
> to save time from potential contributors?  I do not want to see new
> contributors feeling they wasted their time after putting their
> effort.

Sounds like a good idea to me since it has come up a few times and, at least from that thread, there is wide agreement it shouldn't be added.

Show 15 quoted lines
> diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit.txt b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
> index ced5a9beab..1909551087 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-commit.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
> @@ -171,6 +171,13 @@ The `-m` option is mutually exclusive with `-c`, `-C`, and `-F`.
>  	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).
> ++
> +As it makes it harder to argue against one who tells the court "that
> +log message ends with a SoB by person X but it is very plausible
> +that it was done by inertia without person X really intending to
> +certify what DCO says, and the SoB is meaningless." to more
> +publicized ways to add SoB automatically, Git does not (and will not)
> +have a configuration variable to enable it by default.

I think it is a bit more clear to just write "Signed-off-by" instead of using the abbreviation SoB. That isn't used elsewhere, as far as I can tell.

Collin
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: brian m. carlson
Message 4 of 20 in “Would it make sense to add a commit.signOff config?”
  1. Stefan HallerDec 14, 2025
  2. Carlo Marcelo Arenas BelónDec 14, 2025
  3. Junio C HamanoDec 14, 2025
  4. Collin FunkDec 14, 2025
  5. brian m. carlsonDec 15, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoDec 15, 2025
  7. brian m. carlsonDec 15, 2025
  8. Junio C HamanoDec 16, 2025
  9. Elijah NewrenDec 16, 2025
  10. Junio C HamanoDec 16, 2025
  11. Johannes SixtDec 16, 2025
  12. Johannes SixtDec 16, 2025
  13. commit: document that $command.signoff will not be addedJunio C Hamano, Dec 16, 2025
  14. Elijah NewrenDec 16, 2025
  15. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2025
  16. Elijah NewrenDec 17, 2025
  17. Johannes SixtDec 17, 2025
  18. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2025
  19. Kristoffer HaugsbakkDec 19, 2025
  20. Junio C HamanoDec 19, 2025

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.