8 ms·
The username is malware. Github does not namespace user profiles, so the link to the account would be https://github.com/malware https://github.com/malware .
by thekaleb 9y ago
The username is malware. Github does not namespace user profiles, so the link to the account would be https://github.com/malware https://github.com/malware . There is no Github user with the name "about". If you go to https://github.com/about https://github.com/about it is not a profile page, but a page describing github itself. I assume that github may want to make a page describing malware.
- sschueller 9y agoSeems like a stupid move from github not to prefix usernames from the beginning or at least start doing it later like linkedin did. It is very possible that one day there will be another URL they need which belongs to a large account that can not be renamed just like that.
- bentruyman 9y agoSeems like a stupid move? This is a pretty common pattern and we rarely ever hear of stories like this.
- aylmao 9y agoThey can always prefix their page urls instead, especially if it's not something too important.
- hartator 9y agoI don't think I'll follow Linkedin lead on software design.
- thekaleb 9y agoI do like the medium.com approach of the usernames as /@username similar to the apache user dirs /~username
- unethical_ban 9y agoGithub seems pretty open about stuff, so they should be honest about their eff up.
- cabaalis 9y agoThis is my bet, they are trying to namespace their site. They may not have EULA rule they can cite, so hand-wave security and confidentiality.
- bpicolo 9y agoThey don't need a specific EULA for this. They can terminate your account at any time, for any reason [0]. The downside of them giving easy, memorable /paths is that you're subject to this sort of thing on occasion. Yelp has something even more uncomfortable to maintain - custom subdomains [1] [0] https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service/#m-cancellation-and-termination https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service/#m-... [1] https://food.yelp.com/ https://food.yelp.com/
- cabaalis 9y agoAnd they would likely do so if he continues to refuse. I'm not saying they're doing anything wrong other than not give a reason.
- jperras 9y agoOh, not a bad hypothesis! I hadn't thought about that.
- jperras 9y agoIf my username is preventing them from creating a /malware page, I'd have no problem at all with that explanation; their lack of namespacing is convenient, but can cause these problems to occur. But why hide behind the shroud of "privacy and security" if that is the case? I'd happily relinquish (not that I have much choice in the matter) the name if it was a namespace clash.
- plexicle 9y agoPerhaps because they aren't ready to announce what they're working on yet? Just one of a few examples I can think of why they don't owe you a reason. It sucks that they're making you change your name and it's obviously inconvenient. They've at least offered some kind of compensation. It looks like you lucked out that there's no activity or repositories linked to it that would break from the change. This seems like a lot of fuss for nothing.
- jperras 9y ago> Just one of several examples why they don't owe you a reason. Of course they don't owe me a reason; when does a corporation ever owe you a reason for most things it does? It doesn't stop us from asking for answers. > These seems like a lot of fuss for nothing. I wrote as much at the end of the post.
- Gaelan 9y agoThis is almost certainly the answer. The author is overthinking this.
- jperras 9y ago> This is almost certainly the answer. I agree. I just wanted to know! But, as the replies on this post have shown, the only thing you get for asking questions that you don't have the answer to is vitriol and ridicule on HN. I write technical posts that require lots of experimentation, time and research, and no one gives a shit. I write a rant-y blog post on Friday night about something trivial that I found frustrating and suddenly I'm a moron with an IQ the size of my shoe that is a waste of human life. Hacker News is a fucked up place.
- mdekkers 9y agoHacker News is a fucked up place. Used to be nice around these parts. Unfortunately, it is rapidly going the way of Reddit. I have yet to find a community that allows downvoting to remain a nice place. Sooner or later, the quality of conversation goes downhill.
- ProAm 9y agoThat makes sense but why cant they tell him that? It's innocent and easy enough to explain and for the user to accept.
- ddebernardy 9y agoIs it too much to ask the article's author to assume the bloody obvious? > I just want to know why. I'd wager more than a few people at Github are scratching their heads, wondering if the article's author's IQ is higher than a shoe size.
- throwaway2048 9y agoor you know, they could tell him why...
- ddebernardy 9y agoThe chap is savvy enough to use Github. "Don't feed the troll" isn't just for online forums.
- dang 9y agoThat crosses into personal attack, which is not ok here. Please read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and don't do this again.
- jperras 9y ago> Is it too much to ask the article's author to assume the bloody obvious? Their intentions are not obvious to me, and I have asked both publicly and privately (individuals that I know within github). > wondering if the article's author's IQ is higher than a shoe size. Wow, really?
- nostalgeek 9y agoAny sane company would use something like domain.com/user/foo or user.domain.com/foo or even a different domain for user accounts. Github put themselves into that position.
- zokier 9y ago> Github put themselves into that position. Does it matter now?
- nostalgeek 9y agoObviously, what if tomorrow they need github.com/foobarbaz as well? github.com/foobarqux ? github.com/foobarbiz ?
- alex_g 9y agoSounds like a plausible reason, but what about: https://github.com/privacy https://github.com/privacy https://github.com/faq https://github.com/faq https://github.com/software https://github.com/software
- zimbatm 9y agoIt reminds me of the list of names that all SaaS companies should reserve project I did a while ago. Maybe I should add "malware" on it :) https://zimbatm.github.io/hostnames-and-usernames-to-reserve/ https://zimbatm.github.io/hostnames-and-usernames-to-reserve...
- provost 9y agoWhat a great list! I’d recommend adding “secure” too.
- jperras 9y agoAh, great list!
- ehPReth 9y agoThe "CA ownership verification" ones are a bit excessive.. 'admin', 'administrator', 'webmaster', 'hostmaster', or 'postmaster' are the currently permitted localparts for domain validation. (From 3.2.2.4.4 of https://cabforum.org/wp-content/uploads/CA-Browser-Forum-BR-1.5.6.pdf https://cabforum.org/wp-content/uploads/CA-Browser-Forum-BR-...). It was more 'CAs make up their own scheme' in the past though but thankfully that's been reigned in.
- gsich 9y agoSeems like 100% of Githubs problem. Solution: either use /github/about or /profile/name Or just tell him and be done with it.