Email address conventions

I have some questions about conventions used to create
the local part of an email address. I know there is no
standard, I am searching for the better conventions and
why they are used or why they were chosen.

My company uses a non-standard local address. We have a
director that _insists_ we need to use a standard like
firstnam.lastname. Claiming it is the standard and
is better than our current convention.

I would like to hear comments on conventions used
and any pro's and con's.

TIA.

Re: Email address conventions

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dasgorb writes:

> My company uses a non-standard local address. We have a
> director that _insists_ we need to use a standard like
> firstnam.lastname. Claiming it is the standard and
> is better than our current convention.
>
> I would like to hear comments on conventions used
> and any pro's and con's.

There's no such standard, but it's a fairly popular convention. The obvious
con is that if someone know someone's name, they can figure out what their
E-mail address is, whether or not you want them to know the E-mail address.


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Re: Email address conventions

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:32:17 -0000, dasgorb wrote:
> I have some questions about conventions used to create
> the local part of an email address. I know there is no
> standard, I am searching for the better conventions and
> why they are used or why they were chosen.
>
> My company uses a non-standard local address. We have a
> director that _insists_ we need to use a standard like
> firstnam.lastname. Claiming it is the standard and
> is better than our current convention.
>
> I would like to hear comments on conventions used
> and any pro's and con's.

This can present a problem when people don't want to reveal their birth
name and/or middle name.

I've also seen improper implementations where people without a middle
name will get john..smith@company.com, but the ".." doesn't conform to
the RFC.

Re: Email address conventions

dasgorb :

> I have some questions about conventions used to create the local
> part of an email address. I know there is no standard, I am
> searching for the better conventions and why they are used or why
> they were chosen.
>
> My company uses a non-standard local address. We have a director
> that _insists_ we need to use a standard like
> firstnam.lastname. Claiming it is the standard and

I once worked at a place where (eg.) jane.doe@place.org was in use.
Then a new director, named Jane Doe, was brought on board. You would
not believe the idiocy that ensued.

"That's MY email address!"

"No, it's hers."

"But that's my name!!! It must be my email address!"

Pity the poor original jane.doe, who now had a director after her
email address.

Of course, anyone that ignorant should have been disqualified for a
position on the board of directors, but c'est la vie. Ignorance is
not a barrier for such positions these days.


--
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(*) Linux Counter #80292
- - http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html Please, don't Cc: me.

Re: Email address conventions

dasgorb wrote:

> My company uses a non-standard local address. We have a
> director that _insists_ we need to use a standard like
> firstnam.lastname. Claiming it is the standard and
> is better than our current convention.

It's a common convention, but not a standard.

If you want people to be able to guess your e-mail address if they
know your name, it's not a bad convention. On the other hand, names
are not well suited as unique identifiers; you will inevitably have a
clash and some poor schmuck will have to settle for john.smith2

--
David.