Re: Signing off.

[Paul Louden]

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.)