in reply to Re^4: to distinguish between [Anonymous Monk]s in a thread, brand 'em
in thread to distinguish between [Anonymous Monk]s in a thread, brand 'em

In my book --but YMMV-- anything which allows one to distinguish between one AM and another AM, takes away his anonymity. Whether this is between threads or inside threads only, makes no difference to me. I am already anonymous by using a self-chosen nickname here, so using the robes of AM has nothing to do with being linked to a real world physical person, but it takes this basic anonymity which we can all enjoy already to a next level. Distinguishing between AMs takes this ability away.

CountZero

A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

  • Comment on Re^5: to distinguish between [Anonymous Monk]s in a thread, brand 'em

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Re^6: to distinguish between [Anonymous Monk]s in a thread, brand 'em
by Anonymous Monk on Sep 30, 2011 at 22:56 UTC

    ...anything which allows one to distinguish between one AM and another AM, takes away his anonymity...

    But how?

[reply]
      Reading the question as rhetorical, I agree with the implication that it's hard to contrive a convincing and logically consistent interpretation of the proposal.

      Taking it as a serious question, for the sake of arguement only, the proposal at the root of this thread, perhaps modified in line with some of the replies, would NOT allow anyone "to distinguish between one AM and another AM" as individual persons; it only allows a reader to determine if the AM posts are by a single, still-anonymous writer or more than one still-anonymous writer.

      Or, to cite a bit of wisdom from childhood, "... names will never hurt me." And in this case, there are no links between 'actual persons' and names...AM1 and AM2 are mere labels, but because the underlying label is simply Anonymous Monk there's no nexus between Joe Bagga'Donuts (or anyone else) and any of those labels, except in the privacy of Joe's own mind.

[reply]
        ... would NOT allow anyone "to distinguish between one AM and another AM" as individual persons;
        That is where our opinions differ. We just have a different definition of what "anonymous" means.

        CountZero

        A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James

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