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Date:      Sun, 9 Jan 2000 09:23:58 -0800
From:      "FreeBSD" <freebsd@gtonet.net>
To:        "Brad Knowles" <blk@skynet.be>
Cc:        "freebsd-current@FreeBSD. ORG" <freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   RE: load spike strangeness
Message-ID:  <NCBBILEECKNKMONCIAIOOEGPCGAA.freebsd@gtonet.net>
In-Reply-To: <v04220804b49e5e58b17d@[195.238.19.152]>

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<more snippage>

> At 4:48 AM -0800 2000/1/9, Amancio Hasty wrote:
>
> >  For instance, just because someone  has an email name which resembles
> >  a real name lets say "Brad Knowles" does not necessarily mean that the
> >  real "Brad Knowles is sending the mail assuming of course that there
> >  is a Brad Knowles.
>
> 	I've built up enough history over the years (all the while using
> my real name and a real e-mail address, although the address has
> changed over the years as I've changed employers, etc...) that you
> can go do some AltaVista or Hotbot searches and find enough stuff
> that I've written that we can be reasonably sure that this really is
> me.  I may not be proud of some of the stupid things I've done or
> said over the years, but I'll own up to them regardless.
>
> 	I'd say that the same is probably true of most of the people
> posting to the various lists.
>
> >  Let me put another way I sure hope we don't assume that any given email
> >  truly identifies the individual and that the person is legally
> responsible
> >  for his email handle.
>
> 	No more than you can be sure that a particular PGP key belongs to
> the person it claims to belong to, or that a person who presents you
> with a drivers license that claims to tell you their name or address.
>
> 	However, in the case of electronic discussions, there is likely
> to be enough history available that you can be reasonably sure you're
> dealing with the same person who claims to go by the same name, even
> if that isn't their real name.
>
>
> 	It's hard to make the same kinds of connections with an alias.
> Yes, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton published the Federalist
> Papers under assumed names, because that was necessary at the time in
> order to avoid the potential legal consequences of the British
> finding out who the real authors were.  However, I sincerely doubt
> that any such claim can be made today for posting to one of the
> FreeBSD mailing lists.

Look, show me in the mailing list charters where it says I must use my
realname or shut-the-<snip>-up. If you don't like it filter me, I've already
said I don't care. The Patriots you use as examples risked death by hanging.
We merely risk identity theft and financial ruin. Unfortunately for you, I'm
not willing to take that risk.

>
> 	Claims of "needing" anonymity in cases like this just aren't
> likely to be very well received, and the more strident the claimer
> becomes in their "need" to remain hidden, the more likely people are
> to either try to unmask the jerk or to decide to simply start
> ignoring them.

Again, I don't care if it's well received, I'm not here for a popularity
contest. Mr. Bushong had a problem and I replied with a tidbit of possible
info. If you disagree, fine. If you don't like it, too bad. Other than that,
get a life.

>
>
> 	If you want to post in a public place like this, and you want
> other people to be able to help you or carry on an intelligent
> conversation with you, I would suggest that taking the extremely
> anti-social approach of using an alias is one of the worst possible
> things you could as a first step.

Anti-social? Are you for real? Please post your Social Security Number, home
address, home phone, drivers license #, mothers maiden name and date of
birth, Mr. nothing-to-hide-in-a-public-list. Since when does personal info
preclude an exchange of information? I might, now, suggest therapy for you
Mr. Knowles.

>
> 	It won't help stop the spam, and it will just annoy the people
> you'd want to be talking to.

What makes you think I want to be talking to a self-righteous bore, with no
respect for peoples privacy in a day and age of identity theft? You, Brad,
have just made my filter list as I hope I've made yours.

>
> --
>    These are my opinions -- not to be taken as official Skynet policy
>   ____________________________________________________________________
> |o| Brad Knowles, <blk@skynet.be>            Belgacom Skynet NV/SA |o|
> |o| Systems Architect, News & FTP Admin      Rue Col. Bourg, 124   |o|
> |o| Phone/Fax: +32-2-706.11.11/12.49         B-1140 Brussels       |o|
> |o| http://www.skynet.be                     Belgium               |o|
> \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
>   Unix is like a wigwam -- no Gates, no Windows, and an Apache inside.
>    Unix is very user-friendly.  It's just picky who its friends are.
>



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