I think the internet always had anonymity. I do think it was easier to be anonymous on the surface but at the same time there were so many fewer people on the i

I think the internet always had anonymity. I do think it was easier to be anonymous on the surface but at the same time there were so many fewer people on the internet that it wasn't that hard to uncover the person behind the curtain. I do however think that this is unrelated to the Open Source angle. You will still find this sentence on Eric S. Raymond's "How To Become A Hacker" guide which in some ways shows how much this attitude has changed in the years since: > Concealing your identity behind a handle is a juvenile and silly behavior characteristic of crackers, warez d00dz, and other lower life forms. Hackers don't do this; they're proud of what they do and want it associated with their real names. So if you have a handle, drop it. In the hacker culture it will only mark you as a loser. I don't think a lot of people will still subscribe to that idea today.