Subject: Re: Would it make sense to add a commit.signOff config?

From: Junio C Hamano <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2025 10:59:46 +0900

"brian m. carlson" <[email-masked]> writes:

> I think this would be a fine approach or we could add an entry in the
> Git FAQ (or both).  I agree that this is something that comes up
> frequently and writing it down in a more visible way would be kinder to
> users and mailing list participants.

Something like this, then?

---- >8 ----
Subject: [PATCH] document that foo.signoff will not be added

Every now and then we see this coming up on the list.  Let's help
new contributors who are not aware of past discussions by clearly
documenting our past consensus.

Helped-by: brian m. carlson <[email-masked]>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <[email-masked]>
---
 Documentation/gitfaq.adoc         | 15 +++++++++++++++
 Documentation/signoff-option.adoc | 12 ++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 27 insertions(+)

diff --git c/Documentation/gitfaq.adoc w/Documentation/gitfaq.adoc
index f2917d142c..656093047a 100644
--- c/Documentation/gitfaq.adoc
+++ w/Documentation/gitfaq.adoc
@@ -83,6 +83,21 @@ Windows would be the configuration `"C:\Program Files\Vim\gvim.exe" --nofork`,
 which quotes the filename with spaces and specifies the `--nofork` option to
 avoid backgrounding the process.
 
+[[sign-off]]
+Why not have `commit.signoff` and other configuration variables?::
+	As it makes it harder to argue against one who tells the court
+	"the log message of the commit ends with a Signed-off-by
+	trailer by person X, but it is very plausible that it was done
+	by inertia without person X really intending to certify what
+	DCO says, hence the Signed-off-by trailer is meaningless", if
+	we add more publicized ways to add sign-off automatically, Git
+	does not (and will not) have a configuration variable to
+	enable the `--signoff` command line option it by default.
++
+There exists `format.signoff`, but that is a historical mistake, and
+it is not an excuse to pile on more mistakes of the same kind on top.
+
+
 Credentials
 -----------
 
diff --git c/Documentation/signoff-option.adoc w/Documentation/signoff-option.adoc
index cddfb225d1..0b869dfbe4 100644
--- c/Documentation/signoff-option.adoc
+++ w/Documentation/signoff-option.adoc
@@ -16,3 +16,15 @@ endif::git-commit[]
 +
 The `--no-signoff` option can be used to countermand an earlier `--signoff`
 option on the command line.
++
+As it makes it harder to argue against one who tells the court "the
+log message of the commit ends with a Signed-off-by trailer by person
+X, but it is very plausible that it was done by inertia without person
+X really intending to certify what DCO says, hence the Signed-off-by
+trailer is meaningless", if we add more publicized ways to add
+sign-off automatically, Git does not (and will not) have a
+configuration variable to enable the `--signoff` command line option
+it by default.
++
+There exists `format.signoff`, but that is a historical mistake, and
+it is not an excuse to pile on more mistakes of the same kind on top.