Re: DCO: Was: Re: Contributing to gdb

Simon Marchi via Gdb
2025-01-13T17:43:08Z

On 2025-01-13 12:14, Andrew Burgess via Gdb wrote:
> Luis Machado via Gdb <gdb@sourceware.org> writes:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> On 6/23/24 23:06, Tom Tromey wrote:
>>>>> I just noticed that GDB (and binutils) are currently not accepting
>>>>> DCO's like both glibc
>>>>> (https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Contribution%20checklist#Copyright_and_license)
>>>>> and GCC (https://gcc.gnu.org/contribute.html#legal) are now accepting.
>>>>> Has there been any talk about accepting DCOs for gdb and binutils? Or
>>>>> has this not been brought up yet?
>>>
>>> If gcc, glibc, and binutils accept it, then IMO gdb should as well.
>>>
>>> Tom
>>
>> Bumping this thread. I noticed there was a mention of aligning gcc/glibc/binutils in terms
>> of DCO text. That made me wonder where we stand regarding DCO for gdb [1], and if we really
>> want to stray from the other toolchain projects by not making a decision on whether we accept
>> it or not.
>>
>> [1] https://inbox.sourceware.org/binutils/24b26a75-3b3d-4a00-af92-0b7c331e2db7@redhat.com/
>
> Based on nothing more than remaining consistent with gcc, binutils, and
> glibc, I think we should make the switch to accepting DCO contributions
> under the same terms that binutils uses[2] (as well as accepting FSF
> assigned contributions).
>
> I'm volunteering myself to add suitable words to the GDB wiki (based off
> the binutils wording), unless anyone objects. Ideally I'd like a +1
> from a couple of other global maintainers with no serious objections,
> and I'll go ahead and make the change.
>
> I think that Eli believes the concerns with FSF assignment are
> overblown, and given the information provided, I'm inclined to agree.
> But at this point, with other components accepting DCO, I'm not sure
> that's really relevant. Unless there's a super compelling reason why
> GDB should diverge ... I think we should fall into line with the other
> components.

I would be happy if we accepted DCO contributions. Having to go through
some copyright assignment paperwork is not the end of the world, but it
is one of many annoyances that add friction for new contributors (others
I think of right now are the use of mailing lists for reviews and our
specific coding style that we are unable to enforce with an automated
tool).

Simon