Hide your real name in Open Source • Hacker News Board

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#31

Post by vidarh » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 12:30 PM UTC

liftbigweights wrote: post #28

userbinator wrote: post #12

and use hacker names Amusing to see this phrased, since even before the Internet we had a perfectly cromulent word for this: handle.

handle, username, pseudonym, account name, etc. You were told never to give your real name or any identifying info on the internet. It wasn't until facebook that people started using their real name in droves. Another reason to despise facebook.

Lots of people used their real name on the internet early on. Some didn't, especially if discussing particularly sensitive or controversial things, certainly, but most of my early conversations online were with people using their real names.

When I first got on irc in '94, I often exchanged name and phone numbers with people within hours of talking to them, and more than once I met people in real life within hours of talking to them. Nobody batted an eyelid at that at the time.

The panic over people giving out their real name started first years later, especially as people started getting worried about strangers talking to children more than anything.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#32

Post by grkvlt » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 12:36 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #15

KenanSulayman wrote: post #4

I can't really follow the logic here -- maybe it's really just related to investment banks? I'm doing a lot of Github comments and worked with institutions that usually are considered secretive, and they usually don't care at all. I've only heard once a feedback about my commits on Github and that was “I've checked you out on Github, cool, the other applicants didn't even have projects on it." Maybe it's a German thi…

maybe it's really just related to investment banks? Banks are indeed one of the most secretive and protective institutions, along with a lot of other related ones in the financial sector. They also tend to have more authoritarian practices, which can explain why they're not so keen on their employees doing even remotely-related stuff outside of their work.

Not always. I got my Apache commit rights while working for an investment bank, where I was employed specifically to work on open source code, and since then have worked on multiple open source projects on GitHub, and sometimes even for investment bank clients interested in using our open source software. I don't think having a GitHub or Apache account is a hindrance to employment at all, these days.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#33

Post by lkurusa » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 12:40 PM UTC

sebazzz wrote: post #11

> “we are suspicious that you are too active on github and will not commit to this job” In other words: You don't want to work there. If they see that you are busy in your time off on Github, it can only be an upside. (But note: no downside if you don't use github at all)

Exactly my thoughts. If an interviewer said that during a phone call, then I'd wave good bye and hang up as that is simply not a sentiment I can be OK with.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#34

Post by alkonaut » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 12:48 PM UTC

An active OSS profile is certainly more often an advantage than a disadvantage if I'm interviewing someone.

Obviously, some of the people crying over CoC's may also be annoyed to learn that I look at least as much on a persons intra-personal skills when I read through their github history, as I do on their code. Github is a social network. The people there are humans. If you have shown you can communicate well with people over code, especially people you disagree with, that's a very important skill, and it's a skill you can't convey in your CV.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#35

Post by liftbigweights » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 12:55 PM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #31

liftbigweights wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

handle, username, pseudonym, account name, etc. You were told never to give your real name or any identifying info on the internet. It wasn't until facebook that people started using their real name in droves. Another reason to despise facebook.

Lots of people used their real name on the internet early on. Some didn't, especially if discussing particularly sensitive or controversial things, certainly, but most of my early conversations online were with people using their real names. When I first got on irc in '94, I often exchanged name and phone numbers with people within hours of talking to them, and more than once I met people in real life within hours of…

> Some didn't

Most didn't.

> When I first got on irc in '94, I often exchanged name and phone numbers with people within hours of talking to them, and more than once I met people in real life within hours of talking to them.

But you didn't use your name as your nick did you? I never did. The same thing with BBS.

> The panic over people giving out their real name started first years later

No. Even before the media generated panic ( of primarily AOL ), you weren't encouraged to use your real name. Of course after you talked to people and got to know them, nothing stopped you from exchanging numbers. But that wasn't the norm.

I can't believe you brought up irc. There is a reason why in irc you used your "nick". The culture of irc was anonymity. IRC clients and many channels discouraged using your real name.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#36

Post by ghaff » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 12:58 PM UTC

kuroguro wrote: post #24

Generally decent advice. I like my privacy and I use handles everywhere I can, I've even worked remotely and the employer didn't know my real name until they had to send the first paycheck :) The reasoning in the article seems weak tho. I would guess the author is lashing out after a bad interview or something.

It depends on what you do. If your identity and participation in public activities is integral to why you're hired, you don't really have an option to keep everything private. Personally, I decided long ago that if I'm not comfortable saying or doing something using my true name, I probably don't need to say or do it. Yes, that's a somewhat privileged position to be in but nonetheless it's the case for me.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#37

Post by forgottenpass » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 1:00 PM UTC

gant wrote: post #5

I feel like being active on GitHub definitely helped me getting my current job. Regarding "wrongthink", it's generally a good idea to keep politics out of your professional GitHub account if you want to work at a place that may not align with your opinions. Or your opinions are spicy in general. The sort of people that post on HN can usually pick their jobs, which is why I'm surprised someone here would want a job wh…

> If that caveat applies to the vast majority of jobs for you maybe you should reevaluate your opinions?

That caveat doesn't apply to me now, but I'm one family emergency away from moving to a region where that caveat will apply to me. My opinions are not "spicy" they're just... ya know... opinions. Not milquetoast platitudes that shift to please the people I'm talking to.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#38

Post by m000 » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 1:09 PM UTC

Hiding your real name in Open Source and using a multitude of pseudonyms instead is plainly bad advice for most people. Yes, you will be covered for that one employer that will not like your OSS profile. But you are giving a hard time to the majority of the employers who will have to jump through the hoops you've set to get a picture of your OSS contributions.

Also, what would be the reaction of a recruiter reading a resume that lists e.g. 5 different github profiles? I doubt the recruiter would think "very smart of him". More likely, they would be left wondering if the applicant is self-important, a tinfoil hat wearer, or an outright liar. At any rate, probably someone they wouldn't be inclined to hire.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#39

Post by toast0 » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 1:18 PM UTC

gant wrote: post #5

I feel like being active on GitHub definitely helped me getting my current job. Regarding "wrongthink", it's generally a good idea to keep politics out of your professional GitHub account if you want to work at a place that may not align with your opinions. Or your opinions are spicy in general. The sort of people that post on HN can usually pick their jobs, which is why I'm surprised someone here would want a job wh…

> I'm surprised someone here would want a job where they have to self-censor constantly

I would rather work a job where I'm self-censoring toward 'professionalism' if the rest of my team is too, than a job where everyone is their 'authentic self' with their real world politics on display, even if the majority agree with my real world politics.

Re: Hide your real name in Open Source

#40

Post by wlesieutre » Mon, Sep 24, 2018, 1:19 PM UTC

kiallmacinnes wrote: post #3

> You will have been sold a story about how contributing to Open Source projects will give you exposure, and that companies will be fighting to hire you. Sorry, it’s all lies: it was true 20 years ago but no longer. I disagree, there are many companies that actively look for Open Source contributors to hire. Sure, it's not all companies, and very few people will be having companies fight to hire you - but that's real…

>> The places that didn’t ask were unable to see my github profile, because of their firewall.

And god forbid you want to use a tool distributed through github, which at this point is most of them