doc: develop/process: Clarify name usage in the Signed-off-by line

trini · xypron · commit 4c289099b35c · 2026-02-06T10:00:49.000+01:00
Long ago we took the Linux Kernel documentation about adding a Signed-off-by line and adjusted it slightly for how we organized things. In 2003 Linus clarified the intent and then re-worded what the name portion of the Signed-off-by line can be. Mirror that change here. Link: https://git.kernel.org/torvalds/c/d4563201f33a Signed-off-by: Tom Rini <trini@konsulko.com> Reviewed-by: Quentin Schulz <quentin.schulz@cherry.de>
diff --git a/doc/develop/process.rst b/doc/develop/process.rst
@@ -139,8 +139,7 @@ document.
   message by which the signer certifies that they were involved in the development
   of the patch and that they accept the `Developer Certificate of Origin
   <https://developercertificate.org/>`_. Following this and adding a
-  ``Signed-off-by:`` line that contains the developer's name and email address
-  is required.
+  ``Signed-off-by:`` line using a known identity and email address is required.
 
    * Please note that in U-Boot, we do not add a ``Signed-off-by`` tag if we
      just pass on a patch without any changes.
