shortname: BEP-16
name: How to handle external pull requests
type: Meta
status: Deprecated
editor: Troy McConaghy <[email protected]>
The following process was followed when BigchainDB GmbH (the company) led the development of BigchainDB software. BigchainDB GmbH no longer has that role, so BEP-16 is deprecated.
BEP-16 was replaced by BEP-24.
This BEP says what a BigchainDB repository maintaner (i.e. someone with the ability to merge pull requests) should do when a pull request is submitted by someone who is not an employee of BigchainDB GmbH (and who hasn't gotten their pull requests merged in the past). It's based on the file HOW_TO_HANDLE_PULL_REQUESTS.md, which used to be in the root directory of the bigchaindb/bigchaindb repository on GitHub. It was moved here (to the bigchaindb/BEPs repository) because it applies to all BigchainDB repositories, not just bigchaindb/bigchaindb.
If the pull request is from someone who is not an employee of BigchainDB, then:
A. Have they agreed to the Individual Contributor Agreement in the past? There's a list of them in a Google Spreadsheet that's accessible to all bigchaindb.com accounts. If yes, then you can merge the PR and ignore the rest of this document.
B. Do they belong to a company or organization which agreed to the Entity Contributor Agreement in the past, and will they be contributing on behalf of that company or organization? (See the Google Spreadsheet link in A.) If yes, then you can merge the PR and ignore the rest of this document.
C. Did they make a pull request to one of the BigchainDB repositories on GitHub (such as bigchaindb/bigchaindb)? If you're not sure, or you can't find one, then respond with an email of the form:
Dear [NAME OF PERSON WHO AGREED TO THE CLA]
According to the email copied below, you agreed to the BigchainDB Contributor License Agreement (CLA).
Did you intend to do that? If no, then feel free to ignore this email and we'll pretend it never happened.
If you did intend to do that, then do you intend to make a pull request in a BigchainDB repository? Maybe you already did? If so, can you please point me to the pull request in question?
Sincerely,
[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE]
D. Otherwise, go to the pull request in question and post a comment using this template:
Hi @nameofuser
Before we can merge this pull request, we need you or your organization to agree to one of our contributor agreements. One of the big concerns for people using and developing open source software is that someone who contributed to the code might claim the code infringes on their copyright or patent. To guard against this, we ask all our contributors to sign a Contributor License Agreement. This gives us the right to use the code contributed and any patents the contribution relies on. It also gives us and our users comfort that they won't be sued for using open source software. We know it's a hassle, but it makes the project more reliable in the long run. Thank you for your understanding and your contribution!
If you are contributing on behalf of yourself (and not on behalf of your employer or another organization you are part of) then you should:
1. Go to: https://www.bigchaindb.com/cla/
2. Read the Individual Contributor Agreement
3. Fill in the form "For Individuals"
4. Check the box to agree
5. Click the SEND button
If you're contributing as an employee, and/or you want all employees of your employing organization to be covered by our contributor agreement, then someone in your organization with the authority to enter agreements on behalf of all employees must do the following:
1. Go to: https://www.bigchaindb.com/cla/
2. Read the Entity Contributor Agreement
3. Fill in the form "For Organizations”
4. Check the box to agree
5. Click the SEND button
We will email you (or your employer) with further instructions.
Once they click SEND, we (BigchainDB) will get an email with the information in the form. The next step is to send an email to the email address submitted in the form, saying something like (where the stuff in [square brackets] should be replaced):
Hi [NAME],
The next step is for you to copy the following block of text into the comments of Pull Request #[NN] on GitHub:
BEGIN BLOCK
This is to confirm that I agreed to and accepted the BigchainDB [Entity/Individual] Contributor Agreement at https://www.bigchaindb.com/cla/ and to represent and warrant that I have authority to do so.
[Insert long random string here. One good source of those is https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm ]
END BLOCK
The next step is to wait for them to copy that comment into the comments of the indicated pull request. Once they do so, it's safe to merge the pull request.
To the extent possible under law, all contributors to this BEP
have waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this BEP.