[libvirt] [PATCH hooks 1/1] Add check for Signed-off-by in commit messages

[Daniel P. Berrange]

On Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 02:24:40PM +0100, Ján Tomko wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 12:42:47PM +0000, Daniel P. Berrange wrote:
> > On Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 01:22:01PM +0100, Ján Tomko wrote:
> > > On Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 12:05:19PM +0000, Daniel P. Berrange wrote:
> > > > This extends the update hook so that it enforces a requirement to have a
> > > > Signed-off-by line in every commit message. This can be optionally
> > > > turned off in individual repos by setting the "hooks.allowmissingsob"
> > > > git config variable.
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrange <berrange at redhat.com>
> > > > ---
> > > > update | 16 +++++++++++++++-
> > > > 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> > > >
> > > 
> > > Given that signed-off-by lines are pointless for patches authored and
> > > committed by the same person,
> > 
> > They are not pointless. They provide an explicit assertion that the author
> > is acknowledged they are permitted to make the contribution under the project's
> > license. This is distinct from the Author/Committer info in the commit, because
> > that is added automatically my git with no thought required by the developer.
> > 
> 
> I refuse to believe that a group of programmers is incapable of automating such
> mundane process.
> 
> Also, adding -s to the command line by muscle memory is by definition a
> no-thought process.

Those who are regular contributors to open source with sob understand what
it means. The infrequent or first time contributors would be those who are
making an explicit thought aobut it.

> > > NACK unless the hooks.allowmissingsob will be set in the main
> > > libvirt.git (I don't really care about other repos).
> > 
> > I'm intending it to be set in *every* repository include libvirt.git. There
> > is no real world burden for developers to add a signed-off-by line to the
> > commits they contribute to the project,
> 
> It adds visual clutter and one unnecessary step.

There's no real extra step here - its just a tweak to the existing commit
step, so doesn't add any burden. The "visual clutter" is not a relevant
point imho, not least because it is already widely present across our
commits.

> > and it puts us in a stronger legal
> > position going forward. It is already commonplace across countless open
> > source projects, including many that we interact & build on in libvirt.
> > 
> 
> Yes, and the amount of red tape required to contribute is off-putting.
> It saddens me to see libvirt go that route.

I think this is really overstating the impact of the change. Compared to the
extensive code style guidelines that users must follow when writing code,
this change will have no measurable negative impact on work involved in
contributing to libvirt.

Regards,
Daniel
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