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

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Dec 14, 2025, 23:44 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqsedc8w7k.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <aT7lkXl65-TBIsRS@Carlos-MacBook-Air.local>

Carlo Marcelo Arenas Belón <carenas@gmail.com> writes:

Show 7 quoted lines

> 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.

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.
 
 -n::
 --no-verify::