We respect intellectual property rights and want to make sure that all incoming contributions are correctly attributed and licensed. The Developer Certificate of Origin (or "DCO" for short) is a lightweight mechanism to help us do this. In essence, the DCO ensures that every contribution to this project:
- Is originally authored by the person contributing it, and/or
- Is submitted with the understanding that the person contributing it has the appropriate rights to do so.
The full text of the DCO can be found below or at its official source: http://developercertificate.org
In the body of every pull request that you submit to this project, you'll be prompted to check a box that looks like this:
- This contribution fully complies with the Developer Certificate of Origin.
Checking that box signifies that you've read through the full text of the DCO and that it holds true for the entire contents of your pull request. Every single PR made to this project must have that box checked before it can be reviewed, accepted, and merged into our codebase.
Conventionally, projects that use the DCO require contributors to "sign off" on
every git commit, and often enforce the use of real names and/or email
addresses. While it's true that those policies are advantageous for legal
reasons, we don't feel that it's necessary to impose those requirements on
contributors to this particular project. Pseudonyms and anonymity are
acceptable, and we'll take your word for it when you check the box that affirms
your compliance with the DCO.
If you'd like to learn more about the DCO, how it protects contributors, or why we (and many other projects) have chosen to use it, these are some great articles to read:
- The Developer Certificate of Origin is a great alternative to a CLA
- Developer Certificate of Origin versus Contributor License Agreements
- The most powerful contributor agreement
Developer Certificate of Origin
Version 1.1
Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.
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.