Linux: Anonymous Contributions

Back in May of 2004 Linux creator Linus Torvalds suggested a simple process for tracking where patches originate from and the path they follow to ultimately be merged into the Linux kernel [story]. The process was deemed necessary to be able to prove that the kernel is an original work, and not borrowed or stolen from copyrighted works. Linus referred to SCO in the earlier email, "they've apparently made a couple of outlandish claims about where our source code comes from, including claiming to own code that was clearly written by me over a decade ago." The simple process of signing off on patches has been further refined over the past year and a half [story].

A recently submitted patch was signed off by "Noone Important", receiving the following response from 2.6 maintainer Andrew Morton [interview], "anonymous contributions rather defeat the purpose of signing off patches. I'm OK with it for small patches like this, but I'd be reluctant to accept a more subsantial piece of work on such a basis."