On Tue, 1 May 2007, sannse wrote:
I'm sad to see where the Foundation is going with this change, although I do appreciate the pressures that have precipitated it.
Regards,
-- sannse
(and /that/ is the only name you need to find out who I am and whether I can be trusted. Your choice either way.)
This last comment is an important point. I also think that this is an unfortunate policy.
1) The utility of sharing real names, and being a certain age, is overstated. Require competence, maturity, and reputation; not the paper assurance of age and Real identity.
2) Just ask people to share their real name, don't twist their arm. They will tell you when they don't want to share, rather than fooling you.
3) If you really want to confirm that 'honest people are honest' and make community members jump through hoops, set that bar higher (leave out, for instance, basic OTRS access & checkuser)
SJ