5 ms·

> No, really, uniqueness is harder than you think No it's very simple. Restrict usernames to ascii. Do unicode where it makes sense.

Jaruzel 9y ago
Which is great for everyone using the Latin alphabet, but what about Cyrillic and other non western-world based languages?
- dingo_bat 9y ago
  They can use any username they like, as long as it is in ascii.
  - nileshtrivedi 9y ago
    This is a non-solution if most of the names I like are non-ascii.
    - dingo_bat 9y ago
      I would like to use emojis in my username. But as a programmer, I'd like to keep a system as simple as possible. If there were a trillion humans using my service Unicode with emojis would be a useful thing for unique usernames. But in the current scenario where the biggest services have users in the low billions, ascii is the most efficient and simple thing to do. You can always romanize Hindi or whatever language you want to use. The latin alphabet is unusually good at that. IMO it's not worth to introduce the complexity Unicode brings into something like usernames where the slightest problems can lead to stolen identities etc.
- badsectoracula 9y ago
  They can also use ascii, you do not have to use your real name (in fact i'd recommend to not use your real name - it is really concerning how people lost the will for Internet privacy they had in the 90s) as a username. And even if you really really want, for some reason, you can just romanize it.
  - isostatic 9y ago
    In the 90s and before privacy wasn't really a big thing -- looking at a couple of threads from usenet in the 90s, the majority of people used their real name (or at least I assume their real name).
    - badsectoracula 9y ago
      I do not think usenet and newsgroups are a good indicator, by the 90s - especially mid to late 90s - when the floodgates to commercial internet fully opened together with the fast rise of the web, people spent more time in forums, chatrooms, etc than usenet which had more of a 80s "small community" background (where people felt more comfortable using their real names - most likely they already knew each other IRL considering they were usually from the same or nearby University or organization). When it came to forums, chatrooms, etc everyone used nicknames and even people who used both forums and usenet often used nicknames on the usenet than the other way around. Personally i remember reading back in 2000 or so that it is considered a good practice to use your real name in newsgroups (showing the real name bias it had) so that people "take you seriously" and thinking that it was a bad idea (and not commenting anywhere because i felt very uncomfortable with using my real name online - sadly this eroded over time, although the last few years i am sometimes concerned about it, but i think it is too late now and anyone can find who i am with a single google search). But regardless, even if people in the 90s weren't more privacy minded (which really REALLY goes against my experience with any community i either was aware of - and i use the net since 1993), this doesn't really change my opinion that people should not use their real names online and instead they should limit themselves to latin, letters and a few symbols that cannot be forged.
anowlcalledjosh 9y ago
Would it be ridiculous to suggest that this is no different to requiring all usernames to be composed of CJK characters? That would be inconvenient and exclusive, no? (also, a nitpick: "just ascii" is still the wrong approach, since you probably don't want people putting BEL or NUL in their usernames)

Jaruzel 9y ago

Which is great for everyone using the Latin alphabet, but what about Cyrillic and other non western-world based languages?

dingo_bat 9y ago
They can use any username they like, as long as it is in ascii.
- nileshtrivedi 9y ago
  This is a non-solution if most of the names I like are non-ascii.
  - dingo_bat 9y ago
    I would like to use emojis in my username. But as a programmer, I'd like to keep a system as simple as possible. If there were a trillion humans using my service Unicode with emojis would be a useful thing for unique usernames. But in the current scenario where the biggest services have users in the low billions, ascii is the most efficient and simple thing to do. You can always romanize Hindi or whatever language you want to use. The latin alphabet is unusually good at that. IMO it's not worth to introduce the complexity Unicode brings into something like usernames where the slightest problems can lead to stolen identities etc.
badsectoracula 9y ago
They can also use ascii, you do not have to use your real name (in fact i'd recommend to not use your real name - it is really concerning how people lost the will for Internet privacy they had in the 90s) as a username. And even if you really really want, for some reason, you can just romanize it.
- isostatic 9y ago
  In the 90s and before privacy wasn't really a big thing -- looking at a couple of threads from usenet in the 90s, the majority of people used their real name (or at least I assume their real name).
  - badsectoracula 9y ago
    I do not think usenet and newsgroups are a good indicator, by the 90s - especially mid to late 90s - when the floodgates to commercial internet fully opened together with the fast rise of the web, people spent more time in forums, chatrooms, etc than usenet which had more of a 80s "small community" background (where people felt more comfortable using their real names - most likely they already knew each other IRL considering they were usually from the same or nearby University or organization). When it came to forums, chatrooms, etc everyone used nicknames and even people who used both forums and usenet often used nicknames on the usenet than the other way around. Personally i remember reading back in 2000 or so that it is considered a good practice to use your real name in newsgroups (showing the real name bias it had) so that people "take you seriously" and thinking that it was a bad idea (and not commenting anywhere because i felt very uncomfortable with using my real name online - sadly this eroded over time, although the last few years i am sometimes concerned about it, but i think it is too late now and anyone can find who i am with a single google search). But regardless, even if people in the 90s weren't more privacy minded (which really REALLY goes against my experience with any community i either was aware of - and i use the net since 1993), this doesn't really change my opinion that people should not use their real names online and instead they should limit themselves to latin, letters and a few symbols that cannot be forged.

anowlcalledjosh 9y ago

Would it be ridiculous to suggest that this is no different to requiring all usernames to be composed of CJK characters? That would be inconvenient and exclusive, no? (also, a nitpick: "just ascii" is still the wrong approach, since you probably don't want people putting BEL or NUL in their usernames)