What is unascribed author in java docs

Question

Some Java classes, as Object define in java docs @author as unascribed

 * @author  unascribed
 * @see     java.lang.Class
 * @since   JDK1.0
 */
public class Object {

I found that it may be used when author is unknown

If the author is unknown, use "unascribed" as the argument to @author.

And found a JDK not-issue which use the term when no author is defined

many reflection classes unascribed

Many of the new APIs have no @author tag.

So unascribed is basically a Java equivalent to "John Doe"/"Jane Doe"?

user_8207228 · Answer

Of course, the most basic way not to specify the author of some class is not to specify the author, i.e. not to write an @author tag.

Defining something like "unascribed" for not documenting an author is already redundant and (to me) seems a bit weird.