Re: Suggestions, questions and concerns about DebConf19?

[Taowa <taowa@taowa.ca>]

Hello,

On 08/11/2018 11:13 AM, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz wrote:
> Passports can go missing, like it just happened during DebConf (saw the mail?).

Yes, so then it becomes a question of relying on the myriad of other 
ways someone can be identified. That person likely still has their
Driver's License, "Resident ID Card" and maybe even a business card or
a keyslip on them.

> No, but you can at least make sure that you at least know who is
> attending your conference.

We do. I can name at least two pseudonymous attendees, both of whom are
DDs, who I can honestly say I know better than many other attendees. For 
one of them, it either requires guessing that their name is a
pseudonym or knowing them. This is fine. They should be able to feel 
comfortable attending DebConf, and short a CoC violation on their part,
I don't see any good reason to prevent this.

> It can also be at the cost of the safety of others. If someone at the
> conference steals your laptop, you don't want to know whose name it
> is?

That would be unfortunate. However, I think that someone who thought
about this scheme for more than a few minutes would take off their
badge. Short of posting guards at the entrance to the hacklabs, there's
not much that can be done to prevent this. Nonetheless, people are,
for the most part, vigilant of each others' things.

> Or what happens if one anonymous attendee decides to randomly destroy
> other people's property?

On balancing whether to allow pseudonymous attendees from attending at
the cost of them maybe destroying property vs. forcing people to give us
a name and asking for ID, the former wins. If something like this
were to happen, we'd remember who it was and their future ability to
register would be affected.


> It's simply naive to assume that nothing can happen if you are hosting
> such a big conference. And I have the impression that many people take
> privacy on an ideological level that they're willing to dismiss even
> the most basic safety precautions.

We don't assume nothing will happen. We find that it's not worth it to
institute such policies because it's not necessary simply on a balance
of probabilities, let alone any better argument. Nonetheless, such an
argument does exist. Wanting to allow those who are part of the Debian
community under a pseudonym is a very good reason to "dismiss" what may,
prima facie, look like a "basic safety precaution", but is effectively
both unmanageable and unnecessary.

On 08/11/2018 11:20 AM, John Paul Adrian Glaubitz wrote:
> They do the same on aircraft and most people seem okay with simply
> because you have to weigh your loss of privacy against the win of
> safety on board.

As Thomas pointed out, DebConf is not being held in a metal box going
5-6 hundred knots in the air. While that would be a fun bid for 2020,
it seems to be cost prohibitive for two weeks :(.


> I was not assuming that at all. But the thing is, you are never able to
> see into someone's mind so it doesn't hurt to have at least some sort
> of suspiciousness.

Actually, it absolutely can hurt. I don't inherently trust a "real name"
attendee over a pseudonymous one. I have trust in the community as a
whole.

> Lots of western countries have had mandatory registration with the 
authorities
> for years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_registration
>
> The US is rather an exception when it comes to this.

Not only do many object to this (I would, if my country introduced it),
I don't think DebConf has become big enough to qualify as a country
*yet*.

Taowa