Re: [PATCH 1/2] docs: introduce dedicated page about code provenance / sign-off

[Daniel P . Berrangé]

On Thu, Nov 23, 2023 at 02:16:36PM +0100, Kevin Wolf wrote:
> Am 23.11.2023 um 12:40 hat Daniel P. Berrangé geschrieben:
> > Currently we have a short paragraph saying that patches must include
> > a Signed-off-by line, and merely link to the kernel documentation.
> > The linked kernel docs have alot of content beyond the part about
> > sign-off an thus is misleading/distracting to QEMU contributors.
> > 
> > This introduces a dedicated 'code-provenance' page in QEMU talking
> > about why we require sign-off, explaining the other tags we commonly
> > use, and what to do in some edge cases.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
> > ---
> >  docs/devel/code-provenance.rst    | 197 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >  docs/devel/index-process.rst      |   1 +
> >  docs/devel/submitting-a-patch.rst |  18 +--
> >  3 files changed, 201 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
> >  create mode 100644 docs/devel/code-provenance.rst
> > 
> > diff --git a/docs/devel/code-provenance.rst b/docs/devel/code-provenance.rst
> > new file mode 100644
> > index 0000000000..b4591a2dec
> > --- /dev/null
> > +++ b/docs/devel/code-provenance.rst
> > @@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
> > +.. _code-provenance:
> > +
> > +Code provenance
> > +===============
> > +
> > +Certifying patch submissions
> > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > +
> > +The QEMU community **mandates** all contributors to certify provenance
> > +of patch submissions they make to the project. To put it another way,
> > +contributors must indicate that they are legally permitted to contribute
> > +to the project.
> > +
> > +Certification is achieved with a low overhead by adding a single line
> > +to the bottom of every git commit::
> > +
> > +   Signed-off-by: YOUR NAME <YOUR@EMAIL>
> > +
> > +This existence of this line asserts that the author of the patch is
> > +contributing in accordance with the `Developer's Certificate of
> > +Origin <https://developercertifcate.org>`__:
> > +
> > +.. _dco:
> > +
> > +::
> > +  Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
> > +
> > +  By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
> > +
> > +  (a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
> > +      have the right to submit it under the open source license
> > +      indicated in the file; or
> > +
> > +  (b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
> > +      of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
> > +      license and I have the right under that license to submit that
> > +      work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
> > +      by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
> > +      permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
> > +      in the file; or
> > +
> > +  (c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
> > +      person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
> > +      it.
> > +
> > +  (d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
> > +      are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
> > +      personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
> > +      maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
> > +      this project or the open source license(s) involved.
> > +
> > +It is generally expected that the name and email addresses used in one
> > +of the ``Signed-off-by`` lines, matches that of the git commit ``Author``
> > +field. If the person sending the mail is also one of the patch authors,
> > +it is further expected that the mail ``From:`` line name & address match
> > +one of the ``Signed-off-by`` lines. 
> 
> Isn't the S-o-b expected even if the person sending the mail isn't one
> of the patch authors, i.e. certifying (c) rather than (a) or (b) from
> the DCO? This is essentially the same case as what a subsystem
> maintainer does.

Yes, you are right.


> > +Other commit tags
> > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > +
> > +While the ``Signed-off-by`` tag is mandatory, there are a number of
> > +other tags that are commonly used during QEMU development
> > +
> > + * **``Reviewed-by``**: when a QEMU community member reviews a patch
> > +   on the mailing list, if they consider the patch acceptable, they
> > +   should send an email reply containing a ``Reviewed-by`` tag.
> > +
> > +   NB: a subsystem maintainer sending a pull request would replace
> > +   their own ``Reviewed-by`` with another ``Signed-off-by``
> 
> As Philippe already mentioned, this isn't necessarily the case. It's a
> common enough practice to add a S-o-b (which technically only certifies
> the DCO) without removing the R-b (which tells that the content was
> actually reviewed in detail - maintainers don't always do that if there
> are already R-bs from trusted community members).

Yes, will change.


With regards,
Daniel
-- 
|: https://berrange.com      -o-    https://www.flickr.com/photos/dberrange :|
|: https://libvirt.org         -o-            https://fstop138.berrange.com :|
|: https://entangle-photo.org    -o-    https://www.instagram.com/dberrange :|