Hi all
In the latest teleconference - but also earlier - some discussion came up about terminology.
We are referring to people that are joining RALOs not as members of ALSes but in their individual capacity. Some have used the term “Unaffiliated Individuals”, meaning that they are not “affiliated” via a certified ALS, others have used the term “Individual Users”, not making assumptions about any “affiliation”.
The problem that I personally have with the mention “Unaffiliated Individuals” is that if we have an acceptance procedure for individuals, at successful completion of which the individualswill be part of a RALO in their individual capacity, the result is some sort of recognition - or “affiliation”. However, I can fully acknowledge the fact that not being a native English speaker might lead me to conclusions that are not linguistically correct. I would however call the attention of everybody that non-native-English speakers are, if not even a majority, at least a substantial part of the internet users.
This said, now we have an additional problem, i.e. that we might accept individual users in their own capacity even if they are also members of an ALS, and that would make the term “unaffiliated” meaningless - or at least hard to comprehend.
My personal opinion is therefore that “Unaffiliated Individual” is an incorrect - or at least conducive to mistakes - expression. However, since the name of the WP has been now established, and that I have no intention to go through the bureaucracy to change this name, can we agree that we will for the time being continue to use the “UI” form, even understanding that this might be incorrect?
Otherwise, do I have any other proposal?
Roberto
