On Thu, 04 Dec 2014, John Kelly wrote to Moderator:

-> fidonet is a real names network so real names are required in most
-> echomail areas...

 JK> Sounds like a moderator can waive that "requirement"

possibly...

-> you should have posted this to my attention in netmail; Rule 4 ;)

 JK> I'm not a sysop, only a user. AFAIK, I ain't got no netmail. 

you should have netmail access at the system you are posting from...

-> main thing is for folks knowing who they are conversing with and
-> not having "nym hopping" as is seen in some areas.

-> right now, at this time, i'll allow this topic to be open for some
-> discussion but it should not detract from the overall purpose of the
-> echo.

 JK> I don't think this echo has any real purpose except for some
 JK> occasional chit chat between a few old die-hards (myself included).

at this time, this is true... however, if someone were to pick up
development and carry the software on further than it has ever been, that
would be something else ;)

 JK> How important, or relevant, can that really be?

i dunno... i echolisted the area to ensure that it is not removed from
distribution by those systems that require echolisting for cartage... this
was done to keep it available for those desiring to have a place to discuss
it :)

 JK> OTOH, I see posts in alt.bbs.pcboard, dicussing the PCBoard source
 JK> code, posted a person or persons, who, judging by their "name,"
 JK> wish to remain anonymous. If they can't do that here, seems a loss
 JK> to me.

maybe, maybe not... we don't have the problems here in fidonet that are
seen in other social environments that allow anonymous posters... also, it
is anonymous posters that are the problem... well known posters that have
used the same "nym" for a decade or more are a slightly different
matter... folks who do know them likely do know some personal facts about
them... all we're looking at is their name... some people rather talk to
someone and call them by their real name... it just feels closer and more
friendly...

 JK> The source code is more relevant than idle chit chat. I'm not
 JK> opposed to idle talk, but it's surely not as relevant as the source
 JK> code. If this echo is to have any real purpose at all, contributors
 JK> to the source code should be welcome, while remaining anonymous.

i don't have any problem as long as they are known... in other words, if
someone pops in out of the blue using some "nym" that no one has
ever heard of or seen before, how can they be trusted? on the other hand,
if a well known name (say 15+ years known) comes in and posts, the trust is
inherently based on how long they have been actively known by that
"nym"...

)\/(ark
a moderator, PCBOARD

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