fanf | CRSIDs and email addresses

I've recently written a three page memo about the advantages of our username scheme compared to "friendly name" email addresses in large domains. I have put a copy of the PDF on the web which you can read if you like.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

fanf

I made a deliberate decision not to discuss past CRSID policies in any detail, to keep the document short and focussed. I also omit things like group IDs, and advantages of CRSIDs that aren't relevant to @cam email addresses (e.g. CRSIDs are unique enough that they are often usable on public non-University services).

The current policy, in force since September 1994, is:

Personal CRSIDs are between 5 and 7 characters starting with the initials of the person (as known at the time of registration) and using at least two alphabetic characters and terminating with at least one digit.
The first digit must be >1 (this is to avoid confusion between 1 and I and 0 and O)
For those with more than 6 inititals, we chop the initials of the forenames after the fifth.
People with only one name have the initial of that name doubled.
In the case of hyphanated forenames, both are used to build the CRSid.
Single initial CRSids are used to denote courses.
Group resources are alphabetic only.