Subject: Re: [PATCH] SubmittingPatches: allow non-real name contributions

From: "Theodore Ts'o" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2025 23:06:09 -0400

On Mon, Jul 07, 2025 at 07:27:48AM +0530, Ayush Chandekar wrote:
> >
> >Where is this reference to "Linux kernel" come from?  Shouldn't we
> >name our own project and adopt this new language for our own rules?
> >
> >And yes, total anonymity goes directly against provenance traceability,
> >so it is not a passive "unfortunately we cannot accept" with regret;
> >it is a lot more active and positive "we must not accept an
> >anonymous contributions."

Well, the SubmittingPatches originally came from the Linux Kernel, and
the policies and procedures that were adopted by the Linux Kernel
comes from a lot of hard won experience which the git project might
want to consider.  In addition, it was also informed with a lot of
advice and review of lawyers employed or contracted by the Linux
Foundation.  (The Developers of Certification Origin had quite a lot
of input for lawyers to make sure it would work in multiple legal
jourisdictions.)

So for example, it's not just about copyright concerns vis-a-vis
anonymous contributions.  It's also about OFAC Sanctions[1], since an
anonymous contributor might be someone working for a Sanctioned Entity
trying to bypass them.

[1] https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/navigating-global-regulations-and-open-source-us-ofac-sanctions

(And note, it's not just about the US Sanctions; there are very
similar, and in some cases, stricter sanctions promulgated by other
countries, including Japan, Switzerland, Australia, the United
Kingdom, the European Union --- and this is not a comprehesive list.
For better or for worse, the Russian Federation has managed to annoy
quite a large number of countries, and many of us either live in, or
work for companies domiciled in one of them.  If you work for a
company which is a member of te Linux Foundation, Mike Dolan or some
other LF lawyer should have reached out to your General Counsel; so
talk to your legal department.)

Cheers,

						- Ted