[scholia]

Does needing an account really make it a walled garden?

I borrow books and CDs from a public library: I need an account.

I borrow videos from BlockBuster or stream them from Netflix: I need an account.

I want to comment on HN or whatever: I need an account.

I want to get a job, I need an account (SSN etc).

[jhasse]

In some cases, yes:

Want to borrow a book from another library because it's missing in yours?

Want to switch from Netflix to a different streaming provider, but don't want to lose all your history?

You can't easily because you're in their walled garden.