Re: Email address vs Nickname?

Bill Guindon
Mon, 14 Mar 2005 01:03:29 -0000

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 10:53:05 +1000, Adelle Hartley
<adelle-JNHwCBCQwwtx3z9c7Zyw2w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Todd Grimason wrote:
> > /user/3456  is kind of ugly, but if you use a username rather
> > than id# it has to be unchangeable (unless you want to handle
> > multiple aliases or something that''s probably more trouble
> > than it''s worth...)
> >
> > I think it would be site-dependent and a judgement call,
> > based on expectation of permanence given the site''s content,
> > the expected public reaction to ''permanent''
usernames (would
> > people just keep signing up?), etc.
>
> If user A signs up with a username and is then allowed to change their
> username, another user could come along and choose the
"abandoned" username.
>
> I don''t like the idea of anything that could lead to mistaken
identity.

Yep, I don''t believe in allowing changes in usernames, except in rare
cases.  Could solve that by either burning the username - flag it as
deleted, but keep the record to avoid re-use, or allow aliasing - only
admin can change username, and old record stays, with a pointer to the
new one.
--
Bill Guindon (aka aGorilla)