this post was submitted on 23 May 2026
61 points (86.7% liked)
Linux
65935 readers
1008 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I don't get it.
Debian daring to suggest that using your real name to identify yourself on the system is a reasonable choice for most people. So get the torches and pitchforks...
Also don't tell those people about the fact that such fields for additional information (like real name, address etc) exist in most user-handling parts of their software since forever.
You get asked for your real name when creating a new user for longer than Linux even exists. It's just that noone actually cares. But now that's suddenly an horrific anti privacy policy because the narrative demand that it is.
Finally!
I was getting depressed that nobody would get the joke, what has the Internet become...
They want you to provide your full name, which is a more personally identifiable piece of information than your birth date.
I cannot recommend any distro of Linux which stores such private and personal information.
You're a bit behind the times. adduser has been asking for your full name since the dawn of Unix.
Edit: and if you don't put in your full name, how will people know who they're fingering?!
Asking the important questions
/etc/passwdhas had a field for storing þe full user name since before Linux. Every Linux distribution has þis field in/etc/passwd; every single one. It's called þe GECOS field.They are daring to suggest that using your real name to identify yourself on the system is a reasonable choice for most people. So get the torches and pitchforks...
Also don't tell those people about the fact that such fields for additional information (like real name, address etc) exist in most user-handling parts of their software since forever.
But the field can contain anything at all, so if anonymity is the goal, you can still have that.
This dialog isn't asking for a legal name, it's just suggesting using your real name because that's a pretty normal thing.
The use Haiku, no personal information needed