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Subject: Re: Signing off.

Re: Signing off.

From: Paul Louden <paulthenerd_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 03:46:34 -0600

I honestly have a very hard time agreeing with either side in this
discussion.

So here are a few of my views:
I believe that the Rockbox project can, as it wants, demand a 'real'
identity for its submitters. I don't really see a problem with that. They
want a submission from a name attached to a person, rather than a facade
that may be one of many that person maintains. As was said earlier, this is
a real project by real people.

I also believe in a person being able to choose what they are called. There
is a school of thought that one should not be given a name based on who
their parents are, but choose one of their own, representative of
themselves. While I don't necessarily agree with that, I do believe there's
nothing wrong with a person choosing a name for themselves.

So, that being said, I think I'm in favor of pseudonyms being allowed under
the impression that for that person, that *is* their identity. I know
there's some lack of "professionalism" in pseudonyms showing up in the
credits, but I think that if that is their chosen identity, who they've made
themselves to be, then some consideration should at least go into accepting
that.

As has been said, someone could easily lie about their name. Someone could
just as easily lie and say that they've legally had their name changed to
whatever pseudonym they give you. At what point do you demand proof?

I think that if there is some legal concern, that a legal name should be
requested from submitters, but since I haven't actually heard the original
argument, and I haven't seen the legal concern echoed by Linus, Daniel, or
Bjorn, I'm not sure how big a concern that really is (especially since a
"legal name" isn't necessarly that useful. Google mine, and I guarantee
you'll find a Titanic Scholar at least 1,000 times before you find an entry
relating to me.)

So, my perspective is that they should be allowed the identify of their
choice as long as the chosen name is not in some way intentionally (or even
hopefully accidentally) offensive to others, and that they're willing to
stand behind that identity. It is "by real people" as they've said, but real
people still can pick who they are. As long as someone's willing to say
"This is my chosen identity, and this is the identity I will maintain within
this project" it seems a little unfair to say "No, you cannot have the name
you've chosen for yourself." I go by my middle name, rather than my first.
Would you have me use that were I ever to submit code, as that's what shows
up on most legal documents relating to me? (Honestly, I would, as I'm not
too concerned about the topic of names at all. They're just words. But I
know the attachment some people have to both their given ones, and their
chosen ones. The only difference to me is whether you chose it for yourself,
or someone else chose it for you.)
Received on 2006-03-10

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