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How did you get a username? What was its format? Something structured like an email address or just any string?
by bonoboTP 6y ago
How did you get a username? What was its format? Something structured like an email address or just any string?
- jrm4 6y agoI'd say that's where my analogy breaks down a bit. Reddit has a fully centralized username system, in Usenet it would be up to the individual hub (as I recall?) The Mastodon ecosystem today is a better analogy here.
- ars 6y agoIt was normally your email address, but you could put anything. Typically the posting news server (i.e. your own news server) was responsible for validating that you used your real email address. Originally there was no validation, but as spam rose validation became required. News servers required you to login, originally they were open to anyone.
- indymike 6y agoYou just made something up. If you wanted to ensure your messages were untampered, you signed with PGP.