BTW, I am Bob from Illinois in case you have wondered where the handle came from.

I understand that some people have a thing against semi-anonymous handles people often use on public forums. These days its basically a self defense mechanism against employers and other people who snoop on your Internet activities. People have seen their lives destroyed over innocent (sometimes not so innocent) posts on the Internet. I'd just as soon not make it real easy for them.

My real name, address, and phone number are in the phone book, so this is not just paranoia. If you Google my cell phone number it comes up with my real name as well as a fair amount of personal information i would just as soon not be real readily available. I have a fairly common first and last name so that gives me some anonymity in any case. I now have a Google voice number that if I want to post it somewhere I can feel reasonably secure about doing so. Its not protection against government level snoopers but will keep the average snooper at bay.

At one time I posted under my real name on a number of mailing lists and groups, but these days I have modified my behavior to be a little more discrete. I still use an email address that has my real name in it. On a number of forums that I post on my real name is known to a fair number of fellow posters, but I would just as soon make the choice of who I introduce myself to.

As for a paid subscription, I am too new here to tell you whether I would be interested or not. There are a couple of forums I participate in that I have contributed to, but not on a subscription basis. Just occasional donations. Paypal is a good choice for donations IMO.

If the intent is to prevent viewing of the forum for those who don't pay, I think that is a mistake. The mission of the foundation is enhanced by people using search engines to come here and read a post or two about specific things.

I have not formed an opinion on whether it is a good or bad idea to limit posting privileges to paying members. My gut tells me it is counterproductive, but I also admit it has merit. OTOH, if someone wants to ask a few questions about a specific thing, the subscription fee is going to a major deterrent.

If I stick around for any length of time and become an active poster I probably would make occasional donations. I have to say that if it is forced on me, at this time anyway, I would probably move on.