From 4679587b96d311f2524b848d4cc8fb7552c9c594 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ben Pfaff Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2018 16:46:56 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] faq: Add explanation of Signed-off-by. Suitable for cutting and pasting into explanatory emails. Signed-off-by: Ben Pfaff Reviewed-by: Greg Rose --- Documentation/faq/contributing.rst | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/faq/contributing.rst b/Documentation/faq/contributing.rst index d5226f4f7..cfc9cf7b5 100644 --- a/Documentation/faq/contributing.rst +++ b/Documentation/faq/contributing.rst @@ -93,3 +93,31 @@ Q: How do I add support for a new OpenFlow error message? the file for details. If you need to add an OpenFlow vendor extension error for a vendor that doesn't yet have any, first add the vendor ID to the ``_VENDOR_ID`` list in ``include/openflow/openflow-common.h``. + +Q: What's a Signed-off-by and how do I provide one? + + A: Free and open source software projects usually require a contributor to + provide some assurance that they're entitled to contribute the code that + they provide. Some projects, for example, do this with a Contributor + License Agreement (CLA) or a copyright assignment that is signed on paper + or electronically. + + For this purpose, Open vSwitch has adopted something called the Developer's + Certificate of Origin (DCO), which is also used by the Linux kernel and + originated there. Informally stated, agreeing to the DCO is the + developer's way of attesting that a particular commit that they are + contributing is one that they are allowed to contribute. You should visit + https://developercertificate.org/ to read the full statement of the DCO, + which is less than 200 words long. + + To certify compliance with the Developer's Certificate of Origin for a + particular commit, just add the following line to the end of your commit + message, properly substituting your name and email address: + + Signed-off-by: Firstname Lastname + + Git has special support for adding a Signed-off-by line to a commit + message: when you run "git commit", just add the -s option, as in "git + commit -s". If you use the "git citool" GUI for commits, you can add a + Signed-off-by line to the commit message by pressing Control+S. Other Git + user interfaces may provide similar support. -- 2.39.5