If the jokes are kept in GitHub, you can modify the joke and rebase. Include a changelog section in the amended commit. "Original" authorship is retained. When

If the jokes are kept in GitHub, you can modify the joke and rebase. Include a changelog section in the amended commit. "Original" authorship is retained. When it's merged, the committer is noted in the merge commit. But I think it's harder to determine what has changed between multiple rebases. It rewrites history, as it's said. However, I hear the reflog keeps it somehow... GitHub keeps track of this. If you go to your commits, your own merge commits of joke-polishing would show up alongside your own. It's heartening though that an exchange between maintainer and contributor could be like that of a maintainer and future maintainer.