[opensource-wg] Second draft: Credit policy for open source projects

On Thu, Jan 11, 2024 at 2:51 PM Maria Matejka <maria.matejka at nic.cz> wrote:
>
> Hello Valerie and others,
>
> I drafted a full new section about how to actually name people correctly. (Thanks to Valerie for indirectly pointing at this issue.)
>
> The text is probably too sarcastic at some places, reflecting some of my experience (mostly) outside IT. Feel free to smoothen the rough edges.

This is a really good section! I am completely in favor of sarcasm and
levity. :)

Here is the naming/renaming part of the policy below in its entirety
to make it easy for others to read (full document is at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A4PVQ8iAZFPWySxMdY-EYDArII3BrlK_t70Cek6iwhc/edit)

I think we are getting close to something we can release for public comment?

People and company naming convention
There are various conventions on how to name people, companies and
other entities. Everybody involved in database development has
probably found out the hard way that the following statements need not
hold for everybody:

Names are unique.
Company + name combination is unique.
It's possible to assume the name's gender.
The English alphabet is enough.
Every name can be uniquely and readably represented in ASCII.
ISO-8859-1 is enough.
Latin characters suffice.
The name is at most 42 characters.
Names are written left-to-right.
First first names, then surnames.
Everybody has a first name and a surname.
Everybody has just one string of Unicode characers which is their name.
Names can be easily grepped from a natural text written in sentences.
The name is eternal and doesn't change.

The list above should allow you to check whether the policy actually
works for crediting people. You can't credit somebody if you can't
write their name properly.

Please keep in mind that people's identity may be fragile or
sensitive. The more you force people to fit their identity into your
guidelines, the more barriers you're building.
Naming options
(choose any reasonable combination)
Write your name as an ASCII string.
Write your name in UTF-8.
We only accept legal names; prove your identity.
Include your signature as an image.
Write any number of names you want, noting how to use each variant.
Include your gender / pronouns marker.
Write a legal name which you are not actually using but it's written
in your passport. (Option: have it registered but not published.)
Write a former name / deadname which you are not using anymore but the
maintainers should know it for some reason.
Renaming options
We store everything in public Git, all updates are public, send a pull
request. Use git mailmap to rename the git author.
We store everything in private Git so it's still auditable but public
is only the last version. Send a change request.
Update your user profile, everything else gets fixed automatically.
Fill in this document by hand and fax it to us.
Visit us in the office in Orlando, Florida, and explain your identity
change to a panel of seven officers.
(add your options)