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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by th3raid0r@tucson.social to c/technology@beehaw.org

Look, we can debate the proper and private way to do Captchas all day, but if we remove the existing implementation we will be plunged into a world of hurt.

I run tucson.social - a tiny instance with barely any users and I find myself really ticked off at other Admin's abdication of duty when it comes to engaging with the developers.

For all the Fediverse discussion on this, where are the github issue comments? Where is our attempt to convince the devs in this.

No, seriously WHERE ARE THEY?

Oh, you think that just because an "Issue" exists to bring back Captchas is the best you can do?

NO it is not the best we can do, we need to be applying some pressure to the developers here and that requires EVERYONE to do their part.

The Devs can't make Lemmy an awesome place for us if us admins refuse to meaningfully engage with the project and provide feedback on crucial things like this.

So are you an admin? If so, we need more comments here: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3200

We need to make it VERY clear that Captcha is required before v0.18's release. Not after when we'll all be scrambling...

EDIT: To be clear I'm talking to all instance admins, not just Beehaw's.

UPDATE: Our voices were heard! https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3200#issuecomment-1600505757

The important part was that this was a decision to re-implement the old (if imperfect) solution in time for the upcoming release. mCaptcha and better techs are indeed the better solution, but at least we won't make ourselves more vulnerable at this critical juncture.

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[-] Steve@compuverse.uk 16 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There are other options.

I'm just a hobbyist, but I have built a couple websites with a few hundred users.

A stupidly simple and effective option I've been using for several years now, is adding a dummy field to the application form. If you add an address field, and hide it with CSS, users won't see it and leave it blank. Bots on the other hand will see it and fill it in, because they always fill in everything. So any application that has an address can be automatically dropped. Or at least set aside for manual review.

I don't know how long such a simple trick will work on larger sites. But other options are possible.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 years ago

Couldn't the bots just be programmed to not fill out that field? Or not fill out any field flagged as hidden?

[-] kool_newt@beehaw.org 5 points 2 years ago

Yes, but it would take more work specific to this problem, which if it's not a widespread technique would be viewed as impractical.

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this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
170 points (99.4% liked)

Technology

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