Lowercase Account Name

[auero]

Has anyone noticed that Sierra requires a lowercase account name? It automatically changes it regardless of how I write my name.

I understand the reasoning behind this decision, but has anyone gone through with manually changing it after install?

 

[Veldhuis]

Has anyone noticed that Sierra requires a lowercase account name? It automatically changes it regardless of how I write my name.

I understand the reasoning behind this decision, but has anyone gone through with manually changing it after install?

Yes I noticed this too when I did a clean install of Sierra GM last week. Annoyed the * out of me.
However, I noticed when you create a new account once Sierra is installed, you can start it's name with a capital letter.
Really strange, no? So I wiped my drive once more, and set up Sierra with a temporary account first (and didn't log in with my Apple ID there). Then, from that account, I set up my regular account, of which the name starts with a capital letter.
OCD much?

 

[auero]

Yes I noticed this too when I did a clean install of Sierra GM last week. Annoyed the * out of me.
However, I noticed when you create a new account once Sierra is installed, you can start it's name with a capital letter.
Really strange, no? So I wiped my drive once more, and set up Sierra with a temporary account first (and didn't log in with my Apple ID there). Then, from that account, I set up my regular account, of which the name starts with a capital letter.
OCD much?

My understanding is that it's done for people who do a lot of terminal work. Usually you use lowercase usernames in Linux to avoid errors when writing and entering specific paths.

I didnt think to create a new username because like you, I wiped my machine again. It annoys me, but I'll end up leaving it probably. I saw a radar filed identifying the issue as well as previous versions of OS X that acted similarly.

I didn't think to create a new account though. That's a good idea if it really bothers you.

 

[simonmet]

Yes I noticed this too when I did a clean install of Sierra GM last week. Annoyed the * out of me.
However, I noticed when you create a new account once Sierra is installed, you can start it's name with a capital letter.
Really strange, no? So I wiped my drive once more, and set up Sierra with a temporary account first (and didn't log in with my Apple ID there). Then, from that account, I set up my regular account, of which the name starts with a capital letter.
OCD much?

So just out of interest (I've always used the default all-lowercase format), you don't actually have to type the leading letter as a capital do you? You just like it looking that way?

Being a fairly heavy unix/terminal user it never even occurred to me that usernames could have capitals! Case in point: my username on this site! 😛

 

[leman]

Its quite a common thing in Unix world. I was unaware that OS X would allow uppercase letters in usernames. IMO, it makes sense to restrict this so that user names are more compatible across different OS and systems.

Some relevant info: https://paulgorman.org/technical/presentations/linux_username_conventions.pdf

 

[frou]

My understanding is that it's done for people who do a lot of terminal work. Usually you use lowercase usernames in Linux to avoid errors when writing and entering specific paths.

Mac uses case-insensitive filesystem by default. Make typos in Terminal and it works anyway!

$ cd /sYsTEM/lIBrArY/
$ pwd
/sYsTEM/lIBrArY

 

[redheeler]

I noticed this during setup as well. Strange because every other version of MacOS I've ever installed allows capital letters in the short user name.

MacOS Sierra does still support it, as you can change the short user name in the Advanced Options pane and the letters remain capital there.

 

[Veldhuis]

So just out of interest (I've always used the default all-lowercase format), you don't actually have to type the leading letter as a capital do you? You just like it looking that way?

Yes I like it looking this way, with a capital. Not sure if I have to type it as a capital. Never have to type my username when logging in/unlocking my Mac. Auto-unlock, or a click on my username/avatar and typing in my password. 😉