Re: [PATCH] SubmittingPatches: allow non-real name contributions

>
> Our submission guidelines require people to use their real name, but
> this is not always suitable for various reasons.
>
> For people who are transgender or non-binary and are transitioning or
> who think they might want to transition, it can be a major obstacle and
> cause major discomfort to require the use of their real name.  This is
> made worse by the fact that Git provides no way to change names built
> into history, so the use of a deadname is forever.  Our code of conduct
> states that we "pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an
> open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community," and
> changing this policy is one way we can improve things for contributors.
>
> In addition, there are some developers who are so widely known
> pseudonymously that they have a Wikipedia page with their handle and no
> real name.  It would seem silly to reject patches from people who are
> known and respected in their open-source community just because they
> don't wish to share a real name.
>
> There are also other good reasons why people might operate
> pseudonymously: because they or their family members are well known and
> they wish to protect their privacy, because of current or past
> harassment or retaliation or fear of that happening in the future, or
> because of concerns about unwanted attention from government officials
> or other authority figures.  As much as possible, we want to welcome
> contributions from anyone who is willing to participate positively in
> our community without having them worry about their safety or privacy.
>
> In all of these cases, we should allow people to proceed using a
> preferred name or pseudonymously if, in their best judgment, that's the
> right thing to do.  State that it is common to use a real name but
> explicitly mention that contributors who are not comfortable doing so or
> prefer to operate pseudonymously or under a preferred name can proceed
> otherwise.  Use "some form of your real name" since some current
> contributors use shortened forms of their name or use initials, which
> have always been considered acceptable.
>
> Retain the prohibition on anonymous contributions that the Linux kernel
> has to ensure that we have some line of provenance to a known (if
> pseudonymous) author who might be able to respond to questions about it.
>
> This helps guide people who would be fine using their real name but have
> misconfigured `user.name` thinking it is intended to be a username or is
> used for authentication (despite our documentation to the contrary), but
> also allows for a variety of circumstances where the contributor would
> feel more comfortable not doing so.
>
> Additionally, retain the section header ID for ease of linking across
> versions.
>
> Signed-off-by: brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
> ---