Questions about real name policy

[Ben Cooksley]

On Wed, Nov 1, 2023 at 3:52 PM Richard Troy <rtroy at sciencetools.com> wrote:

>
>
> > Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2023 21:40:48 -0400
> > From: Josh <josh at redstrate.com>
> > To: kde-community at kde.org
> > Subject: Questions about real name policy
> >
> > Hello KDE community,
>

Hi Josh,


> >
> > I'm not sure if this is the best ML to post it in, but anyway - what is
> > our current stance on a real name policy? We were recently asked again
> > in a Matrix channel and the consensus seems to be "we don't know?" From
> > what I can tell, you *must* use your real name or else our git commit
> > hooks will reject any pushes. From some precursory web searches, people
> > say to work around this by putting spaces in the git username field. So
> > it's allowed, but unofficially? The git commit hook doesn't mention this
> > work around I think.
>

You must use a proper name, otherwise the servers will reject it yes.

However we have no way of enforcing a real name, so it really just needs to
be something you are known by.
(ie. there is nothing to stop people from using pseudonyms)

That being said, for those who are looking to reference their work later it
would be recommended to use your actual name as we won't rewrite
repositories for people who want to change their name.
(so being consistent, and ensuring that you will be happy with the name you
have chosen in 5 years time is a good idea)

If you have opted to adopt a name that does not contain spaces (and cause
immense pain for yourself in the process as lots of places expect first and
family names) then you will need to file a Sysadmin ticket to have your
name be whitelisted within our systems.
You must still follow normal conventions on capitalisation and other rules
that would usually be enforced for names (so no numbers in it for instance).

Do not workaround or otherwise attempt to bypass the commit hooks - they
are enforcing rules and bypassing them is not permitted.

On the relicensing point, a long lived contact email address is just as
important here (if not almost more important).
Please ensure you use an email address that will still be active in several
years time. Use of throwaway addresses is also not permitted.

Much like names, the server also performs a bunch of validation on your
email address to ensure it is usable and valid.


> >
> > I have gotten more than zero complaints/questions about this policy, and
> > I've only been here for a year. When tracking down something "official",
> > all I've found is a few mentions on the Community wiki. If we dismissed
> > the policy, then we should update those commit hooks. These contributors
> > are starting to make non-trivial commits to projects I care about, so it
> > would really great if we can accommodate them.
> >
> > Whatever decision we make, can we document this somewhere so I can link
> > people to it? Preferably on kde.org, where it it's immutable and
> > official looking like our code of conduct.
> >
> > (If the reason is "it's because of relicensing", I have a hard time
> > tracking down people even when I know their full names. I would prefer
> > better reasons than that, if possible 😆)
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Josh
>

Cheers,
Ben


>
> Hi Josh - and KDE community,
>
> I'm in this even more recently than you, but I hope this short reply is
> worthwhile:
>
> I'm speaking here as a person who STRONGLY values online anonymity.
>
> That said, context is _everything._ My father was a state assistant
> attorney general and I myself spent an entire year working as an unpaid
> legal aide for the lawyers there. From that experience, and now, as a
> person who's created a small software company, my response is that your
> instincts are good: As you note, the licensing is really important here.
>
> My instincts say that this is clearly and unmistakably a question for a
> lawyer who's both informed on the issues and cares about this project,
> either because their paid or because they're committed in some other way.
>
> Regards,
> Richard
>
> --
> Richard Troy, Chief Scientist
> Science Tools Corporation
> 510-717-6942
> rtroy at ScienceTools.com, http://ScienceTools.com/
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