Clarify whether the Google CLA is jj-specific or not

[marc-hb]

There has been a lot of discussions about the CLA already in #4849 and elsewhere so I would really like to keep this one here specific, thanks!

I would like to sign the CLA but only for jj and not for anything anywhere in the future including projects that no one even thought about yet. Is that possible? Afraid not. Either way: it's not clear. It should be.

That project scope question is especially concerning considering how a "Contribution" is currently defined at https://cla.developers.google.com/clas/new?domain=DOMAIN_GOOGLE&kind=KIND_INDIVIDUAL

For the purposes of this definition, "submitted" means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent to Google or its representatives, including but not limited to communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems, and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, Google for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise designated in writing by You as "Not a Contribution."

With a definition of "submitted" that broad, it sounds very easy to submit something "accidentally". Again: I'm OK "accidentally" submitting everything I say or think related to jj. Fine by me. But not to every "project" under the sun including projects that haven't even sprung into existence yet. That seems too extreme.

No matter how I feel personally, it should be clearer whether the CLA is jj-specific or not.

[marc-hb]

From https://github.com/jj-vcs/jj/blob/c5afa9e2bf2708/docs/contributing.md

Contributions to this project must be accompanied by a Contributor License Agreement.

Singular "this project".

Head over to https://cla.developers.google.com/ to see your current agreements on file or to sign a new one.

"AgreementS" is plural: why? So agreements could be a per-project basis? Or some other reason?

Once we move to https://cla.developers.google.com/clas/new?domain=DOMAIN_GOOGLE&kind=KIND_INDIVIDUAL, all references to jj are lost. So, how could the CLA be project-specific when... it never mentions any project specifically?

By signing this contributor license agreement, I understand and agree that this project and contributions to it are public and..

Singular "this project and contributions to it". So, the CLA is project-specific?

While the terms "Contribution" and "submitted" are thoroughly defined, "project" is used only twice at the top and then never again.

Inconsistent and confusing.

[martinvonz]

My understanding is that it's not specific to this project. I think those uses of "this project" make sense even though it also applies to other projects.

[marc-hb]

Thanks @martinvonz , that's really sad to hear :-(

I think those uses of "this project" make sense even though it also applies to other projects.

It does not make sense to me and I think that this should be rephrased and clarified. At least in docs/contributing.md.

Based on some of the comments in #4849, I feel like other people (wrongly) assumed the CLA was jj-specific.

[martinvonz]

As I'm sure you've seen, there is also this paragraph:

You generally only need to submit a CLA once, so if you've already submitted one
(even if it was for a different project), you probably don't need to do it
again.

I think that clearly shows that we attempted to clarify it. I'll send a PR to try to clarify it more.

[martinvonz]

See PR #8981