Pseudonyms (was Re: [TriLUG] SCO Conference Call)

[Mike Johnson]

Tanner Lovelace [lovelace at wayfarer.org] wrote:
 
> In general, I have no problem with anonymity.  However, if someone
> comes on an Open Source list (which I will argue this is) and states
> something like "Open Source Software's future does not look very good",
> then if they want to be taken at all seriously they'd better be prepared
> to back that statement up with their full reputation. 

No, they better be prepared to back up that statement with facts.  Or at
least a strong argument.  That statement, on its own, is rather silly.
Would saying 'my name is Inigo Montoya, Open Source software killed my
father, it should prepare to not have a good looking future' really
change it?  At all?  I mean, really.  If I include 'Mike Johnson' in my
'From:' field and I spurt out 'Open Source Software's future does not
look very good' and had nothing to back it up with, are you really going
to lend any creedence to that statement?  No, you'd want some facts,
figures, or, at the least, some statistics that I pulled out of
somewhere dark.

> I have no idea
> who "Gnu Man" is, but because of that post you can bet that I will hold
> all his future posts suspect, assuming I read them at all and don't just
> delete them on sight.  Gnu Man, if you want anonymity, fine.  If you
> want respect, fine.  Just don't expect the two to go hand in hand.

So, simply because 'Mike Johnson' looks like a more realistic name, I
get more respect?  Or something?  There are more Mike Johnsons than
there are John Smiths.  Ooo, if he used John Smith in his 'From:' line,
would that make 'Open Source Software's future does not look very good'
easier to swallow?

> To Mike, yes, identity has a lot to do with arguments.  The way it
> looked to me Gnu Man could have been someone at SCO who came to our
> list to spread FUD.  If I knew who he was, I might not have come to
> that conclusion.

I think you're putting way too much stock in a 'From:' line.  I also
think you're jumping to a conclusion.  Would someone from SCO really
come onto our little list and spread that weak little bit of FUD?  I
really don't think his use of a pseudonym should sway your opinion one
way or another.  It certainly doesn't sway mine.

Mike
-- 
"If life hands you lemons, YOU BLOW THOSE LEMONS TO BITS WITH 
 YOUR LASER CANNONS!" -- Brak

GNUPG Key fingerprint = ACD2 2F2F C151 FB35 B3AF  C821 89C4 DF9A 5DDD 95D1
GNUPG Key = http://www.enoch.org/mike/mike.pubkey.asc

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