[Python-Dev] Introducing Electronic Contributor Agreements

[R. David Murray]

On Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:22:07 -0500, Brett Cannon <brett at python.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Baptiste Carvello <
> devel at baptiste-carvello.net> wrote:
> 
> > Le 05/03/2013 04:13, Stephen J. Turnbull a écrit :
> > > Mark Lawrence writes:
> > >
> > >  > People already use the bug tracker as an excuse not to contribute,
> > >  > wouldn't this requirement make the situation worse?
> > >
> > > A failure to sign the CLA is already a decision not to contribute to
> > > the distribution
> >
> > my 2 cents as an occasional contributor of minor patches: I understand
> > that the scarce resource is reviewer time, so I would definitely accept
> > to sign the CLA with my next contribution before a reviewer invests his
> > time in it.
> >
> > However, please don't make the popup too pushy. I abhor websites which
> > push people into entering legally binding agreements "with one click"
> > without the opportunity to study them carefully (personnally, this would
> > not be a problem as I already know what the CLA is about, but other
> > contributors might not).
> >
> > Also, please keep the possibility to use the old paper-based signing
> > procedure. I for one don't consider so-called "electronic signatures"
> > based on email address verification (as opposed to real crypto) to be as
> > good as a handwritten signature, and I don't want to legitimize them by
> > using them.
> >
> 
> At the bottom of the CLA page there are instructions on how to still use
> the paper form.

Then there also needs to be a way to ACK the popup so that it never
shows up again.  Which we should have anyway.  Ideally that would be
tied to the account and not to, say, a browser cookie.

--David