40fb2ae81c
Agree with the foundation's move to require a DCO from OpenStack's contributors in lieu of the CLA as part of their move under the Linux Foundation. [1] Signed-off-by: Goutham Pacha Ravi <gouthampravi@gmail.com> [1] https://lists.openinfra.org/archives/list/foundation@lists.openinfra.org/thread/PXMTX67TRL2B4ONICTT2E2XZLG4J4LAL/ Change-Id: I471d908f1f331ef0e91050a51f9afdf928cc3ef5
62 lines
3.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
62 lines
3.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
=====================================================
|
|
2025-05-20 Replace CLA with DCO for all contributions
|
|
=====================================================
|
|
|
|
The OpenStack community has required contributors to sign a
|
|
Contributor License Agreement (CLA) before submitting code
|
|
contributions. This process has addressed legal and organizational
|
|
needs but has long been seen as being cumbersome to the contribution process
|
|
and imposes administrative overhead.
|
|
|
|
The OpenStack Technical Committee (TC) `requested
|
|
in 2014`_ that the Foundation Board of Directors implement
|
|
the `Developer Certificate of Origin`_ (DCO) as the Contributor
|
|
License Agreement (CLA) for the OpenStack project. The DCO is a
|
|
simpler, developer-affirmed certification that contributors
|
|
have the right to submit the code they are contributing.
|
|
We are pleased that the Foundation board has now found
|
|
this `transition feasible`_.
|
|
|
|
The OpenStack Technical Committee approves the transition from a
|
|
CLA-based contribution model to a Developer Certificate of Origin
|
|
(DCO) model. The move aligns us with governance practices in other large open
|
|
source projects, like the Linux Kernel, and will streamline our contributor
|
|
experience.
|
|
|
|
The OpenStack Technical Committee therefore resolves to:
|
|
|
|
- Replace the Contributor License Agreement (CLA) with the Developer
|
|
Certificate of Origin (DCO) as the core legal framework for contributions to
|
|
OpenStack projects.
|
|
- Set the transition effective date to **July 1, 2025**. From that
|
|
date, all commits to OpenStack repositories must include a valid
|
|
`Signed-off-by` line in the commit message as stated in the DCO.
|
|
- Direct the OpenDev Infrastructure team to enforce DCO compliance on the
|
|
OpenStack `code review system`_, i.e., require a valid DCO sign-off for
|
|
all new commits.
|
|
- Ensure that the OpenStack Contributor Documentation features the Developer
|
|
Certificate of Origin and includes clear and practical guidance for
|
|
contributors on how to sign their commits and what the sign-off represents.
|
|
- Encourage OpenStack project maintainers to update their own contributor
|
|
documentation to point to the OpenStack Contributor Documentation regarding
|
|
the DCO. We don't need to reproduce the DCO within project documentation
|
|
or the source code. All existing documents referring to the prior CLA have to
|
|
be modified to remove that information.
|
|
- Clarify that existing contributors **will not** be required to retroactively
|
|
sign or re-submit anything. However, all new commits made on or after
|
|
July 1, 2025 must adhere to the DCO requirements. Changes already uploaded to
|
|
the code review system need not be modified just to include the
|
|
`Signed-off-by` line in the commit message. However, when changes need to be
|
|
modified for other reasons, the commit message must be amended to include the
|
|
`Signed-off-by` line.
|
|
|
|
This adoption of the DCO will lower the barrier to contribution, reduce
|
|
administrative burden, and bring OpenStack in line with best practices across
|
|
the open-source world. It's a key step towards a more accessible and welcoming
|
|
OpenStack.
|
|
|
|
.. _requested in 2014: ../resolutions/20140909-cla.html
|
|
.. _Developer Certificate of Origin: https://developercertificate.org/
|
|
.. _transition feasible: https://lists.openinfra.org/archives/list/foundation@lists.openinfra.org/thread/PXMTX67TRL2B4ONICTT2E2XZLG4J4LAL/
|
|
.. _code review system: https://review.opendev.org
|