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docs(contributing): accept a known identity in the sign-off #816

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docs(contributing): accept a known identity in the sign-off #816

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Expand Up @@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ If you can certify it, then just add a line to every git commit message:
Signed-off-by: Random J Developer <random@developer.example.org>
````

Use your real name (sorry, no pseudonyms or anonymous contributions).
Use a known identity (sorry, no anonymous contributions). Many contributors
use their real name, but a pseudonym you use consistently, such as your GitHub
username, is fine, and so is your [GitHub no-reply address][noreply].

@AndyScherzinger AndyScherzinger Oct 18, 2026

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I checked back with @schiessle and this is actually not okay (and something we will be having to add a check for). The point is it needs to be reachable. So a no-reply address does disqualify.

It is clear that in practice we can't be fully enforce or check this, else we would need to check the email to be active/reply-able and it could also be that an address gets abandoned after years.

So:

is fine, and so is your [GitHub no-reply address][noreply].

Is the opposite of what the DCO demands (!)

@MiMoHo MiMoHo Oct 18, 2026

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Thanks for checking with @schiessle. I read the DCO differently, though: its points (a) to (d) mention neither a name nor an address, only the example sign-off line has one. What it needs is a person you can get back to, or as the CNCF puts it, "sufficient enough to contact you". The ID-based no-reply address belongs to exactly one GitHub account, even after a username change, and that account can be reached with an @mention, which GitHub delivers to the inbox, the mobile app or by email.

It is also common practice here. In nextcloud/server, 678 of the 5,294 non-merge commits from the last twelve months are signed off with a no-reply address: 435 from the Nextcloud Command Bot, 243 from 36 accounts, several of them Nextcloud members. .github, server, notes and spreed require sign-off on web commits, and with email privacy enabled GitHub uses the no-reply address for those. A check would block all of them.

As you say, nobody can tell whether an address works short- or long-term. A rule that asks for one mostly stops the people who keep theirs private.

If you set your `user.name` and `user.email` git configs, you can sign your
commit automatically with `git commit -s`. You can also use git [aliases](https://git-scm.com/book/tr/v2/Git-Basics-Git-Aliases)
like `git config --global alias.ci 'commit -s'`. Now you can commit with
Expand All @@ -74,6 +76,7 @@ In case you are not sure how to add or update the license header correctly pleas
[dcofile]: https://github.com/nextcloud/server/blob/master/contribute/developer-certificate-of-origin
[applyalicense]: https://github.com/nextcloud/server/blob/master/contribute/HowToApplyALicense.md
[aipolicy]: https://github.com/nextcloud/.github/blob/master/AI_POLICY.md
[noreply]: https://docs.github.com/en/account-and-profile/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/setting-your-commit-email-address

## Translations
Please submit translations via [Transifex][transifex].
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