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Welcome to the future
Namespaces. They're common in IT - things like "the people who use this service" have names according to a consistent formula, like BillG at Microsoft, because to do it otherwise is madness. When you have several namespaces, it's important that they don't clash. One set of username servers here, for example, had Andrew_G; the other GatesA. Each service had a user drive that was named after the username.
Two years ago, the Powers that Be decided that the old Andrew_G naming rule was fuddy-duddy and embarassing, and changed midflight to the new rule.
Can you spot the schoolboy error? It's absolutely fine as long as none of the services ever mash up. Because if they do, say, when politics or scalability make it necessary, then some poor sod has to grovel around in thousands of 'em unpicking the ones that don't mash right. One namespace's Fred Bloggs, Fred_B, would go fine alongside the other's BloggsF, Ferdinand Bloggs. But when you change rules midflight, we've got BloggsF's on both services - and a hairball of rules as to which one becomes BloggsFe or BloggsFr, and then one of the buggers will probably leave, and -- gah!
I warned them about this hairball two years ago!
Namespaces: One instance where "stay the course" isn't boneheaded.
Two years ago, the Powers that Be decided that the old Andrew_G naming rule was fuddy-duddy and embarassing, and changed midflight to the new rule.
Can you spot the schoolboy error? It's absolutely fine as long as none of the services ever mash up. Because if they do, say, when politics or scalability make it necessary, then some poor sod has to grovel around in thousands of 'em unpicking the ones that don't mash right. One namespace's Fred Bloggs, Fred_B, would go fine alongside the other's BloggsF, Ferdinand Bloggs. But when you change rules midflight, we've got BloggsF's on both services - and a hairball of rules as to which one becomes BloggsFe or BloggsFr, and then one of the buggers will probably leave, and -- gah!
I warned them about this hairball two years ago!
Namespaces: One instance where "stay the course" isn't boneheaded.