Re: [cobalt-users] Anonymous listers (was Re: WildCard DNS)

[Kris Dahl <krislists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 8/15/00 2:12 AM, WebFusion System Administrator at
graeme.f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Kris Dahl wrote:
> 
> <snip>
>>> "WebFusion System Administrator", etc.
>>> ... at LEAST sign a NAME to go along with the
>>> non-descriptive references that they have used to setup their Email
>>> clients?
>> 
>> Thanks for the post, its a great point.
> 
> For us this is company policy.
> 
>> There are several fields in the mail headers.
> <snip>
> 
> That's patronising to those of us who have been in this field for years,
> Kris.

I fully intended it to be patronizing!  There is no excuse for not properly
formatting emails if you have been in the field for years.

> I'd love to be able to post as 'myself' but I can't since this would be
> regarded as personal mail.

If you are emailing from a role account, use a role email account, bug
tracking, trouble ticketing system or whatever.  If you are communicating to
a list you are communicating as an individual, not a role.

> If you want to look at mailing lists which are useful but are full of
> aliases, nom-de-plumes and generally odd-looking 'names' I suggest you
> take a look at Bugtraq and friends, http://www.securityfocus.com
> No-one there complains, everyone knows pretty much who everyone else is
> and very few people post using 'friendly' names. I guess it's just the
> nature of the beast.

Although I vastly prefer real names, I don't that much of a problem with
'nicknames' or even 'aliases/handles'.  But I honestly don't think that
posting under a company name is appropriate.  If it is company policy to
never communicate under your real name, it is a pretty bogus policy.  I
understand the need of role accounts, but they have their place and are
typically best handled by trouble ticket system, etc. that are designed for
that purpose.  There is not much of a need for a role email account for
personal communication, including mailing list participation.

> The great thing about this list is that there are a large number of
> people here with (a) lots of Cobalt experience, (b) lots of Linux
> experience and (c) lots of web-hosting experience.
> The worst thing? I would've thought that's pretty obvious.
> 
> As long as the content's good and useful, I don't care who the emails
> appear to come from.

I guess one of the main reasons I don't like using company names in the
'name' field is that is immediately plugging a company/cause.  I think that
making a plug every once in a while is a good thing.  But on the face of
every post?  A bit much.

I agree that there are some significant resources on the list and that good
content is the highest priority.

-k