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WTF with the spam?!
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- Posts: 2121
- Joined: 2009-10-21 01:03
Re: WTF with the spam?!
There is a report button - the most useful thing you can do is press that and wait.
The Forum's search box is terrible. Use site specific search, e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... terms+here
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... terms+here
Re: WTF with the spam?!
Are the spamhunters MIA? I've not seen this much spam accumulated without attention in a very long time. (Over two dozen threads and counting.)
Re: WTF with the spam?!
There is only so much they can do. With the thousands of spammers registered and waiting, such as 100qpdayloanss, Lifeway138, fixtaxes81, it does not take a long break in coverage for spam accumulate. The only thing that surprises me is that this situation does not happen more often.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
Just in case anyone doesn't know:dasein wrote:Are the spamhunters MIA? I've not seen this much spam accumulated without attention in a very long time. (Over two dozen threads and counting.)
Just like everyone else the spamhunter are volunteers.
They do what the do when they got time and interest in doing it.
It's not your personal army (in case you prefer /b/ sp33k: NYPA).
zless /usr/share/doc/maint-guide/maint-guide.en.txt.gz (social dynamics of Debian)* We all are volunteers.
o You cannot impose on others what to do.
Go to IRC and ask to become a spamhunter, in case you are not happy. Or send an email to the team. Pointing out each and every observation related to spammers in this thread is, obviously, pointless. ("Oh, ah, uh. I saw a spammer. Let me quickly post it in the thread)).
And much better: go away.
I for one still think that they do it perfect. And complaining in such a manner impertinent. To put it different: kudos to the magic-stick-gang.
"I am not fine with it, so there is nothing for me to do but stand aside." M.D.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
Anyone ready to take a more pro-active approach to the spam problem ?
Or will you wait till the forum falls down around your ankles ?
Or will you wait till the forum falls down around your ankles ?
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- Posts: 2121
- Joined: 2009-10-21 01:03
Re: WTF with the spam?!
Any news on getting the ability to actually ban spammers?
I supposed it's a self limiting problem, we're going to run out of letter permutations for usernames soon enough...
I supposed it's a self limiting problem, we're going to run out of letter permutations for usernames soon enough...
The Forum's search box is terrible. Use site specific search, e.g.
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... terms+here
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Re: WTF with the spam?!
Gotta feel sorry for the spamhunters. They are vastly too few in number, and their hands are basically tied by "don't care, don't have to" attitude of the admins. But how much easier would their job be if they could simply nuke a spammer's account, instead of having to delete >150 (and counting) individual messages.
Last edited by dasein on 2013-01-11 00:47, edited 2 times in total.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
At the risk of sounding cynical, I think admins (not mods/spamhunters) may secretly do the happy dance when the forum gets hammered like this. There's a lot they could do to combat the problem, or to empower the "front-line defenders" to be able to do more. But the admins simply do not show any signs at all of caring.Rifester wrote:It is a very simple problem to correct... Stupid that nobody will fix it.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
I've wondered about that for a long time. There are any number of technical modifications which would prevent 99% of the spam without any need for daily administration. So, why not?dasein wrote:At the risk of sounding cynical, I think admins (not mods/spamhunters) may secretly do the happy dance when the forum gets hammered like this. There's a lot they could do to combat the problem, or to empower the "front-line defenders" to be able to do more. But the admins simply do not show any signs at all of caring.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
We had a similar spam problem at our free software forum at uni. Our legendary admin put some cat pictures on the signup page and a small quiz relating to them. Never was a spam bot to be seen again.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
Because they don't care. I doubt that an admin (any admin) has so much as visited the forums in months. (Which admittedly leads to a very odd definition of "admin".)Bulkley wrote:So, why not?
One of the admins started a "how to improve the forum" thread almost a year ago, but began by saying pointedly that suggestions related to spamfighting were not among the improvements being solicited.
AFAIK, there are fewer than a half-dozen people (mods and spamhunters) who have the power to nuke the spam. And for reasons passing all understanding, mods/spamhunters no longer have the ability to simply delete a spammers' account (and presumably all the associated posts as well). IIRC, that power simply vanished one day, without comment, warning, nor public explanation. So pity the next spamhunter who logs in, only to find 200-300 reported messages, each of which has to be deleted individually.
I want to be clear here: the moderators and spamhunters are not the problem. They do a difficult job under equally difficult conditions, and yet one of them actually took the time and effort to send me a PM a while back thanking me for my spam reporting efforts. The root problem is is forum admins, who either are genuinely indifferent, or do a positively amazing job of faking it. They won't do their job, and they ignore/resist any suggestion that others should be empowered to do it, either.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
I believe the complete lack of interest is simply due to "Forum Administrator for x-number of years" looking good on a resume. I can think of no other plausible reason.dasein wrote:The root problem is is forum admins, who either are genuinely indifferent, or do a positively amazing job of faking it.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
This has been a great forum but at times it gets almost strangled with spam. Should we all be looking to make a mass move to another forum? One that has the capacity and the will? Is there one?
Re: WTF with the spam?!
http://www.debianhelp.org/forumBulkley wrote:This has been a great forum but at times it gets almost strangled with spam. Should we all be looking to make a mass move to another forum? One that has the capacity and the will? Is there one?
But you know that, no?
"I am not fine with it, so there is nothing for me to do but stand aside." M.D.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
The answer is yes, but that is the wrong question. The question should be; Is there a viable forum with the capacity and will? The answer to that is none that I am aware of.Bulkley wrote:This has been a great forum but at times it gets almost strangled with spam. Should we all be looking to make a mass move to another forum? One that has the capacity and the will? Is there one?
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Re: WTF with the spam?!
I asked about the spammers last month and the message that came back was "There is a problem with the forum ban function, hopefully it will be fixed soon."
What is the problem and why isn't it fixed yet?
Two Forums I know (Kubuntu Forums and linuxforum.com) use the Spam-O-Matic system which seems to work very well - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=248042
On the Ubuntux Forum members can be removed or blocked.
What is the problem and why isn't it fixed yet?
Two Forums I know (Kubuntu Forums and linuxforum.com) use the Spam-O-Matic system which seems to work very well - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=248042
On the Ubuntux Forum members can be removed or blocked.
Re: WTF with the spam?!
,dasein wrote:Gotta feel sorry for the spamhunters. They are vastly too few in number, and their hands are basically tied by "don't care, don't have to" attitude of the admins.
There are only 3 of us active, saulgoode, deltaflyer, and myself. Our numbers are not the issue, its the fact they send us to a gunfight armed only with a water pistol.
When we try to ban a spambot, we get directed to a blank page. The admins are aware of the problem, ask them why it isn't fixed yet.arochester wrote: What is the problem and why isn't it fixed yet?
To all the good members who report spam, thank you, it helps us more than you think.