Comment 63 for bug 382703

I don't know if it's too late to add my own two cents -- if so, then it's free. :p

When I first switched to Linux two years ago, the idea of the home directory kinda threw me as well, but then Windows Vista ran with the concept. Now, I don't have a lot of good things to say about Vista, but one thing I feel they did get right was changing the structure of its users' personal folders, so now it closely resembles how Ubuntu does it. I also like how Vista addressed the naming of this folder, to a degree.

This is how I feel Ubuntu should handle the current "Home Folder" naming mess: From a filesystem standpoint, the users' home folders should remain named their login name. On Nautilus, in Gnome's "Places" menu (and other desktop managers that handle shortcuts), and anywhere else where the user's home folder is referenced in a GUI, it should be listed as the user's full first and last names, if both are available -- otherwise fall back to the user's login name.

My reason for using the full name approach when available is simple: Being called by your real name is more personal. Being called by whatever screen name you've been arbitrarily assigned by your administrator (or have given yourself in order to prevent spaces in your login name) is just not as personal. To me, it seems cold and abstract.

So, in summary (since I have a tendency to ramble):
Home references in shell/cli: value of $USER
Home references in GUI (Nautilus, Places, etc.): First Name + Last Name, if BOTH are available; otherwise fall back to value of $USER.