I think there are a couple of fundamental confusions here, the biggest of which is that, as it says at the top, all fields may be null. That's technical speak for "optional". Essentially *all* of this data is optional -- indeed, mundane name is often not known. But it *is* often very helpful, which is why it's recorded when we have it.
Also, as others have pointed out, this is *not* describing what this looks like to the public, it's describing the internal database schema. Many of these fields are for internal use only, not for public consumption. Mundane name is one of them.
So (a) if people don't want their mundane names involved, they can say so and that can simply be left out (if it was known in the first place, which it often isn't), and (b) even when they are known, they're not visible.
In general, you seem to be interpreting this as what the OP *looks* like, which it isn't -- the look isn't intended to change. It's just an under-the-hood change to the way the data is managed...
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Date: 2008-11-22 11:38 pm (UTC)Also, as others have pointed out, this is *not* describing what this looks like to the public, it's describing the internal database schema. Many of these fields are for internal use only, not for public consumption. Mundane name is one of them.
So (a) if people don't want their mundane names involved, they can say so and that can simply be left out (if it was known in the first place, which it often isn't), and (b) even when they are known, they're not visible.
In general, you seem to be interpreting this as what the OP *looks* like, which it isn't -- the look isn't intended to change. It's just an under-the-hood change to the way the data is managed...