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For developers who truly care about anonymity, is relying on the server to strip out personal information really a good idea? If I were that paranoid, I feel l

For developers who truly care about anonymity, is relying on the server to strip out personal information really a good idea? If I were that paranoid, I feel like I'd greatly prefer a tool that strips everything out on the client, then establishes a connection to your site via a Tor hidden service which then publishes the PR. Another concern; isn't this a potential avenue for spam? How long before someone submits a bunch of spam PRs through the service and gets your Gitmask user account banned on GitHub as a result?

analogj 9y ago
To be honest, I wrote GitMask for myself. Yep,if anonymity is really important to you, a VPN and/or TOR is required. GitMask just ensures that you don't unintentionally leak personal info. GitMask is open source, so if you don't trust me to run it, just run it yourself. Spam is a potential issue. All PR's reference gitmask.com so maintainers have someone to message if they get flooded.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  Are you worried about potential licensing issues? Some projects make contributors agree to certain license contribution guidelines before they can accept pull requests. If there is a question about non-OSS code coming in from Gitmask in a lawsuit, the affected project will most likely have to discard and rewrite all those contributions.
chr15m 9y ago
You may be interested in Gitnonymous which does not require a trusted 3rd party, and strips everything out on the client side. https://github.com/chr15m/gitnonymous https://github.com/chr15m/gitnonymous
- ycmbntrthrwaway 9y ago
  To avoid accidents I suggest you actually create a separate user and develop from here.
golergka 9y ago
For some, it's just a matter of social anxiety and basic privacy. If you don't want people to see youporn suggestion in you address bar, you don't have to bother with Tor – incognito window is good enough.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  Unfortunately, people don't seem to understand what the Incognito window or FF privacy windows actually do. I've heard people tell me they use it at work so their boss can't see what they're doing face palm.
  - pluma 9y ago
    Amazing considering that both FF and Chrome point this out when opening a private window. Firefox: > Private Browsing doesn’t make you anonymous on the Internet. Your employer or Internet service provider can still know what page you visit. Chrome: > Your activity might still be visible to: > * Websites you visit > * Your employer or school > * Your internet service provider Though I'd argue that Chrome's message is less explicit because of the "might still be". I also seem to remember that Chrome at one point used slightly more playful language explaining that incognito mode doesn't protect you from people looking over your shoulder either but that no longer seems to be the case.
AFNobody 9y ago
Nope. Just use a VPN/Tor/whatever to create a GitHub account and push commits with nobody@example.com

analogj 9y ago

To be honest, I wrote GitMask for myself. Yep,if anonymity is really important to you, a VPN and/or TOR is required. GitMask just ensures that you don't unintentionally leak personal info. GitMask is open source, so if you don't trust me to run it, just run it yourself. Spam is a potential issue. All PR's reference gitmask.com so maintainers have someone to message if they get flooded.

djsumdog 9y ago
Are you worried about potential licensing issues? Some projects make contributors agree to certain license contribution guidelines before they can accept pull requests. If there is a question about non-OSS code coming in from Gitmask in a lawsuit, the affected project will most likely have to discard and rewrite all those contributions.

chr15m 9y ago

You may be interested in Gitnonymous which does not require a trusted 3rd party, and strips everything out on the client side. https://github.com/chr15m/gitnonymous https://github.com/chr15m/gitnonymous

ycmbntrthrwaway 9y ago
To avoid accidents I suggest you actually create a separate user and develop from here.

golergka 9y ago

For some, it's just a matter of social anxiety and basic privacy. If you don't want people to see youporn suggestion in you address bar, you don't have to bother with Tor – incognito window is good enough.

djsumdog 9y ago
Unfortunately, people don't seem to understand what the Incognito window or FF privacy windows actually do. I've heard people tell me they use it at work so their boss can't see what they're doing face palm.
- pluma 9y ago
  Amazing considering that both FF and Chrome point this out when opening a private window. Firefox: > Private Browsing doesn’t make you anonymous on the Internet. Your employer or Internet service provider can still know what page you visit. Chrome: > Your activity might still be visible to: > * Websites you visit > * Your employer or school > * Your internet service provider Though I'd argue that Chrome's message is less explicit because of the "might still be". I also seem to remember that Chrome at one point used slightly more playful language explaining that incognito mode doesn't protect you from people looking over your shoulder either but that no longer seems to be the case.

AFNobody 9y ago

Nope. Just use a VPN/Tor/whatever to create a GitHub account and push commits with nobody@example.com