Re: employers and dress codes.
I used to volunteer to work in a local youth club. There was an implicit dress code. A
suit would have been unacceptable. A "loud" T-shirt would also have been
unacceptable. I was doing the children a favour, but in doing that favour I had certain
responsibilities, and dressing appropriately was part of that. Compare golf clubs,
night clubs, pubs, etc, etc.
It's good that people volunteer to work on Wikipedia. We're grateful for their
hard
work. But with that work comes responsibility. We ask that contributors check their
facts and take some pride in their work. We ask that they collaborate with others. We
ask that they behave civilly and with respect. Asking that they use an appropriate
username is an extension of that, and not wildly unreasonable.
There is a middle way between unrestricted freedom of speech and "the tyranny of
majorities who carry on like on-line lynch mobs" (nice turn of phrase). I think it
lies in
balancing an appropriate dress code with an appropriate means of asking people to
follow that dress code.
-Martin "MyRedDice" Harper