Comment by zahlman
4 days ago
CLAs represent an important legal protection, and I would never accept a PR from a stranger, for something being developed in public, without one. They're the simplest way to prove that the contributor consented to licensing the code under the terms of the project license, and a CYA in case the contributed code is e.g. plagiarized from another party.
(I see that I have received two downvotes for this in mere minutes, but no replies. I genuinely don't understand the basis for objecting to what I have to say here, and could not possibly understand it without a counterargument. What I'm saying seems straightforward and obvious to me; I wouldn't say it otherwise.)
I think the proper way to do this would be a DCO. https://developercertificate.org/
DCOs only document that the contributor has the right to contribute the code, not the license under which they contribute it. CLAs do both.
I upvoted your comment. I share your view and just wanted to say you're not the only one who thinks this way.
There are dozens of us. Dozens!