Scheduled Maintenance: We are aware of an issue with Google, AOL, and Yahoo services as email providers which are blocking new registrations. We are trying to fix the issue and we have several internal and external support tickets in process to resolve the issue. Please see: viewtopic.php?t=158230

 

 

 

Quite a spamfest today

Code of conduct, suggestions, and information on forums.debian.net.
Message
Author
User avatar
traveler
Posts: 942
Joined: 2010-06-09 22:07

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#21 Post by traveler »

Maybe we should just be happy a certain red overlord is permanently AWOL...
I wish for a conjugal visit and world peace. (Don't want to seem selfish.)

User avatar
dasein
Posts: 7680
Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06
Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#22 Post by dasein »

ComputerBob wrote:It's a huge mistake to not give the spam hunters the tools that they need to do their job...
Except that the Green Overlords don't have the ability to share their power. That's right, you guessed it, only the absentee Red Uber-Poobahs can do that.
ComputerBob wrote:...unless "the Green Overlords" are coming here every few hours and nuking the spammers themselves.
Some of them do exactly that, and have worked invisibly to remove literally tens of thousands of spammer accounts in the last month or so. And they continue to do so virtually every day.

(Just sayin')

confuseling
Posts: 2121
Joined: 2009-10-21 01:03

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#23 Post by confuseling »

dasein wrote:
dilberts_left_nut wrote:...for huge runs of obvious spam, reporting every one just slows down the removal process a bit.
Point very well taken, and one I didn't fully appreciate until I was conscripted into the Purple Horde. The flip-side, of course, is that users who are trying to help by reporting spam don't know whether a given post (or posts) has already been reported--at least not without trying to report it. :evil:

My personal best suggestion is this: when in doubt, report. Multiple reports do slow things down a bit, but IMO too many is better than none at all.
Simple solution: spam reporters find the earliest extant post by a serial spammer, and try to report it. If it's reported already, stop.

(a coordination game in game theory lingo, much like driving: doesn't matter if you drive on the left or on the right, but you want everyone around you to agree on one or the other :-) Difference of course being that the latest post can always suddenly get later, while the earliest won't change until someone starts clearing up)
The Forum's search box is terrible. Use site specific search, e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... terms+here

User avatar
sakamoto
Posts: 83
Joined: 2012-08-24 23:38

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#24 Post by sakamoto »

why not implement something that new members will be obliged to post their first 10 posts in the offtopic forum? that way the spammers (i dont think we are always dealing with bots) will be blocked from all other forums ? or why not manually activating new forum members? only disadvantage will be a delay for new registered members but you can clearly indicate this upfront - no one will go mental from waiting max 1 week :wink:
debian 7.0 wheezy 3.2.0-4-686-pae gnu/linux

cynwulf

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#25 Post by cynwulf »

sakamoto wrote:why not implement something that new members will be obliged to post their first 10 posts in the offtopic forum?
This is a technical forum, people do not come here for offtopic. Having to post 10 times in offtopic when all you want to do is ask/answer a question is absurd.
sakamoto wrote:or why not manually activating new forum members? only disadvantage will be a delay for new registered members but you can clearly indicate this upfront - no one will go mental from waiting max 1 week :wink:
The problem with that approach is that someone has to sift through the accounts waiting activation and sift the spammers from the real members - this will inevitably mean that some will get missed and the delay while waiting for activation will negatively impact new registrations - the short version: may as well close down.

User avatar
sakamoto
Posts: 83
Joined: 2012-08-24 23:38

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#26 Post by sakamoto »

cynwulf wrote:
sakamoto wrote:why not implement something that new members will be obliged to post their first 10 posts in the offtopic forum?
This is a technical forum, people do not come here for offtopic. Having to post 10 times in offtopic when all you want to do is ask/answer a question is absurd.
agreed
cynwulf wrote:
sakamoto wrote:or why not manually activating new forum members? only disadvantage will be a delay for new registered members but you can clearly indicate this upfront - no one will go mental from waiting max 1 week :wink:
The problem with that approach is that someone has to sift through the accounts waiting activation and sift the spammers from the real members - this will inevitably mean that some will get missed and the delay while waiting for activation will negatively impact new registrations - the short version: may as well close down.
first of all, you can inform them of the delay it will take approximately. secondly, if valid new members are skipped they should be able to contact on irc maybe (hell - urgent issues can also be tackled there if required)? i think this is really the best solution - it's really getting out of control at the moment. i would honestly look further in such solution.
debian 7.0 wheezy 3.2.0-4-686-pae gnu/linux

cynwulf

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#27 Post by cynwulf »

sakamoto wrote:first of all, you can inform them of the delay it will take approximately. secondly, if valid new members are skipped they should be able to contact on irc maybe (hell - urgent issues can also be tackled there if required)? i think this is really the best solution - it's really getting out of control at the moment. i would honestly look further in such solution.
Yes you can inform them of the delay on registration, but a lot of people will just get pissed off and go to a forum where they don't have to go through that kind of bollocks (all because some admins can find no better way to fight spam...)

One very viable solution to this site's spam problems was posted nearly two years ago and it was simply ignored by the administration: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 93#p391993

User avatar
dasein
Posts: 7680
Joined: 2011-03-04 01:06
Location: Terra Incantationum

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#28 Post by dasein »

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

The purples have no power to implement changes to the server. Neither do the greens, to my best understanding. So otherwise seemingly sensible solutions cannot be implemented.

It's stupid, but that's the way it is.

cynwulf

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#29 Post by cynwulf »

dasein wrote:At the risk of sounding like a broken record...
Never! my dear man, never...! :D
dasein wrote:It's stupid, but that's the way it is.
Yes, it's all futile, I'm just here pointing out the sheer futility of it all to those who do not yet understand the sheer futility of it, which is in itself rather futile...

Randicus
Posts: 2663
Joined: 2011-05-08 09:11

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#30 Post by Randicus »

sakamoto wrote:only disadvantage will be a delay for new registered members but you can clearly indicate this upfront - no one will go mental from waiting max 1 week :wink:
That would be fine for you and I, but what about the person who has a problem and cannot find existing threads with a solution, either because he or she does not yet know how to do an effective search, or because the question and/or answer has not yet been posted? "Come back in a week and ask your question."?
i think this is really the best solution
It is the worst solution. The best solution, referenced by cynwulf, is preventing spammers from starting accounts.

User avatar
nadir
Posts: 5961
Joined: 2009-10-05 22:06
Location: away

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#31 Post by nadir »

That would be fine for you and I
Hurray. Da gramma nazi startx to speak da speak :-)

-
Time for the old violine i love so much.

I am always against restricting users (with one singly exception, as far this board is concerned).

It's the same old story:
Take a boogeyman to explain why restrictions are needed. Use any arbitrary of: spammers, taliban, terrorists, CP, trolls, whatever.
Once the rules are in place, execute them towards users and forget about the boogeyman.

Don't get me wrong: Yes, spam is a problem. Are restrictions a solution? I would say: no.

Not that i had any power to decide anything. Just playing my violine, for the fun of it (trying to convince myself to set up syndie asap).
"I am not fine with it, so there is nothing for me to do but stand aside." M.D.

User avatar
llivv
Posts: 5340
Joined: 2007-02-14 18:10
Location: cold storage

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#32 Post by llivv »

cynwulf wrote:One very viable solution to this site's spam problems was posted nearly two years ago and it was simply ignored by the administration: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 93#p391993
Randicus wrote:It is the worst solution. The best solution, referenced by cynwulf, is preventing spammers from starting accounts.
Most if not all the admins are d devs, devs have been fighting their own spam battles
long before spam became an issue on the forum.
Doesn't anyone else ever wonder who the spammers are IRL? or if they have a real life?
How to blacklist unwanted stuff will probably always be an art.
We have to do are best at it just as everyone else should, if just for sanity's' sake.
cynwulf wrote:Yes, it's all futile, I'm just here pointing out the sheer futility of it all to those who do not yet understand the sheer futility of it, which is in itself rather futile...
hehe -- call me cerf
In memory of Ian Ashley Murdock (1973 - 2015) founder of the Debian project.

Randicus
Posts: 2663
Joined: 2011-05-08 09:11

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#33 Post by Randicus »

llivv wrote:Most if not all the admins are d devs, devs have been fighting their own spam battles
long before spam became an issue on the forum.
That does not explain why this is the only forum I know of that is inundated with it.
Doesn't anyone else ever wonder who the spammers are IRL? or if they have a real life?
They are little demons and demonesses who have fled the nether world, because they are too weak to be anything other than slaves of the stronger creatures. They came here, because they have enough power to annoy us by creating spam. I thought everyone knew that.

cynwulf

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#34 Post by cynwulf »

nadir wrote:Don't get me wrong: Yes, spam is a problem. Are restrictions a solution? I would say: no.
+1

Restrictions are not the solution - a better CAPTCHA system, which humans have no trouble with, but which at least hinders spambot registration, is. There is no "firewall" solution to this, but cutting down the bot registrations by even 50% would make a worthwhile difference.

Anyway, yes, futile - done.

User avatar
4D696B65
Site admin
Site admin
Posts: 2696
Joined: 2009-06-28 06:09
Been thanked: 85 times

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#35 Post by 4D696B65 »

cynwulf wrote:a better CAPTCHA system, which humans have no trouble with, but which at least hinders spambot registration
Very true, spambots have little trouble with most captcha. We even have some spambots advertising captcha hacking software. :shock:

cynwulf

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#36 Post by cynwulf »

4D696B65 wrote:We even have some spambots advertising captcha hacking software. :shock:
That software is the spambot.

User avatar
nadir
Posts: 5961
Joined: 2009-10-05 22:06
Location: away

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#37 Post by nadir »

llivv wrote:Most if not all the admins are d devs, devs have been fighting their own spam battles
long before spam became an issue on the forum.
What the faq are you talking about?

It doesn't matter at all.
Both doesn't matter:
If or if not they are dev's
If or if not they have already dealt with such before.

-
Tip: Less LSD, more beer, and think _before_ write something: "does it make any sense at all?".
"I am not fine with it, so there is nothing for me to do but stand aside." M.D.

User avatar
llivv
Posts: 5340
Joined: 2007-02-14 18:10
Location: cold storage

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#38 Post by llivv »

nadir wrote:What the faq are you talking about?
llivv wrote:Doesn't anyone else ever wonder who the spammers are IRL? or if they have a real life?
It's a train of thought.
nadir wrote:It doesn't matter at all.
Both doesn't matter:
If or if not they are dev's
If or if not they have already dealt with such before.

-
Tip: Less LSD, more beer, and think _before_ write something: "does it make any sense at all?".
nobody said you had to board my train of thought.

Question everything!
In memory of Ian Ashley Murdock (1973 - 2015) founder of the Debian project.

User avatar
nadir
Posts: 5961
Joined: 2009-10-05 22:06
Location: away

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#39 Post by nadir »

Still not enough beer.

I didn't speak about the sentence
what spammers are in real life
but about the sentence that
all admins of the forum are debian developers and have dealt with such before, long before the forum.

Hint:
If i quote something, then i usually speak about that.
Not about the stuff i did _not_ quote.
I always assumed that was common behaviour.


My hamster, btw, is a rock star. I ask him to run in circles, but he told me he did it before.
"I am not fine with it, so there is nothing for me to do but stand aside." M.D.

User avatar
llivv
Posts: 5340
Joined: 2007-02-14 18:10
Location: cold storage

Re: Quite a spamfest today

#40 Post by llivv »

nadir wrote:Still not enough beer.
Dieter wrote:you have become boring and tiresome.
It is now time on sprockets when we dance.
http://youtu.be/LxQ6olQjebg

I glass of wine please.
Edit:
what I said wrote:Most if not all the admins are d devs, devs have been fighting their own spam battles
long before spam became an issue on the forum.
nadir wrote:all admins of the forum are debian developers and have dealt with such before, long before the forum.
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/19 ... 00398.html
I doubt this guy is one of the forum admins, but he has been dealing with spam for a while.
In memory of Ian Ashley Murdock (1973 - 2015) founder of the Debian project.

Post Reply