Github names & avatars

[Xinok via Digitalmars-d]

On Friday, 13 May 2016 at 17:02:20 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> I'll ask again that the active Github users use their own name, 
> and add to that if you could have a selfie as your github image.
>
> It avoids when people who post as "Fred" on the newsgroup 
> submit PRs as "HorseWrangler" and get annoyed when I don't 
> realize they are the same person, and then I overlook them at 
> the conference because I have no idea what they look like.
>
> In today's surveillance state, the government already knows 
> your name and what you look like, so being anonymous on github 
> is a bit pointless, as if anyone cares that you are interested 
> in D. I can understand if you're a celebrity or want nobody to 
> know you're a dog, but that doesn't apply to most of us.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog

If people are annoyed or offended because you don't recognize 
them in person or under some other name/alias, they need to get 
over themselves. That's just childish.

As for asking us to use our true identities online, there's very 
good reason NOT to do so. It's not just about hiding from our 
"big brother" the government/NSA/GCHQ. There are companies which 
specialize in doing background checks on potential hires and 
they'll dig up every little secret they can find about you 
online. While you may think an association with D isn't a big 
deal, some people out there can be extremely bigoted and will 
judge you based on that alone. It goes both ways as well; if one 
deplorable individual happens to get a lot of public attention 
and he becomes associated with the D community (oh how the media 
loves to spin a story), it will reflect poorly on our community 
as a whole.

So no, let's not start using our real names just because you fail 
to recognize some people.