There are a couple of threads right now dealing with posters having similar names to one another, and another one listing registration dates from a while back where many many posters have never actaully posted. At some point do these names just det deleted, so that they could be freed up for new people? Or does the SDMB simply trust that the world is original enough to come up with new names when needed? 
I’ve seen this answer this week. Bill H cannot get them to free up “Bill” even though it’s been never used for years.
So, the names are not freed up.
The exception is that if a name is changed, like “da’ cook” became something else, then “da’ cook” is not used, and available again. If anyone would think of that again, that is.
Yes, I seem to recall getting a mattk on the board recently, despite crusoe’s long incarnation as mattk. Some names are deleted, I think only if that particular poster is banned before actually posting (such as in the case of obvious trolls or imposters).
There was a way given just lately how to tell if a name is available.
Just plug it into the link, with %20 for spaces
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=Bill
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=da’%20cook
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=mattk
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&username=name%20to%20check
FWIW, crusoe’s old SN was mattk and the new one is MattK. And in the thread where people are digging up old registrations I found one guy whose only post came ~2½ years after he registered. That makes me think a fair amount of the zero post registrations do lurk.
Good point. I did lurk for a while, too, but the frist time I ever came to the boards was deliberately to reply to something. It seems odd that people would register and never post when you can just as easily read the boards as a guest.
Which name was that? I can’t spot it.
:eek: just realized it was in your post - **Steve Schonwald **
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ringo *
FWIW, crusoe’s old SN was mattk and the new one is MattK
[QUOTE]
User names aren’t case sensitive, so if crusoe’s old name was still in there, it would have been impossible to register as MattK, MATTK or mAtTk.
Although it hasn’t always been this way, nowadays you have to be registered to do any kind of search. I can imagine someone who only lurks–doesn’t post but does read at least some of the threads–but who does occasionally want to look up specific stuff, and not just read whatever’s been posted today.
Since Crusoe got a namechange, the relevant vBulletin record was renamed as well. Therefore, someone could register the name mattk again, indeed case-insensitive. Hey, Matt’s a common name, and I’m sure there are plenty of Matts out there whose last names start with a K.
As for “old” names: once a name is registered, it’s taken - even if someone never uses it to post. Banned names are also taken, meaning that registering them again is impossible.
It warms my heart to see the popularity of my old moniker. I’m sure the new MattK can only improve on my post quality…!
This is the same answer I got from TubaDiva when I inquired via email about the availability of specific usernames. Of the two other usernames I had selected (in case “algernon” wasn’t available), they both had been used in the past by people who are no longer active.
This is what happened to me. I had been lurking for a couple of years before the urge to do a lookup became overwhelming. I was mostly content with reading (and smiling) but then decided that besides wanting to do a little research, I might actually have something to offer to the rest of the Teeming Millions.
Names are first come, first served. Sorry.
And what you just claimed is not true; once a name is used by someone, we’d just as soon you not recycle it. Once is enough.
It’s quite possible that a name has been recycled that way; it’s a big board and anything can happen. But we tend to, um, discourage that sort of thing.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Um… I didn’t come here to argue, but you do seem to be calling me a liar. What I “claimed” IS true. That’s exactly what everyone else on the thread is saying about MattK, that when the name was changed, it became available again, and someone DID take it. Or am I missing something?
I could have swore I said:
Sometimes things do get by us and this was one of those things.
In a perfect world we would have nabbed the second “matt” at the time the registration was opened and we would have gently asked him for another name or two to try. However, as I also said, it’s a big board, a lot of activity, we’re not here 24/7, sometimes stuff gets by us.
Once again, we discourage the recycling of screen names. Names tend to get associated with people, even when they change their names, and hence should be left alone.
You know, this is making me reconsider our policy about changing names, we’ve done this as a courtesy to our users. But if it’s going to be one of those things where it’s abused – and I sure have seen a boatload of name changes of late – and people want to re-use old names and add to the confusion, maybe we shouldn’t do changes anymore.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Here’s a guy who’s been around for two years and only woke up for the fifth time last month:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=2475