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Github allows you to search by dates (newer than, date ranges, etc), so for example, you can add the query "created:>=2020-09-30" (the date the youtube video wa

Github allows you to search by dates (newer than, date ranges, etc), so for example, you can add the query "created:>=2020-09-30" (the date the youtube video was uploaded) to get a more accurate list. From this search, it looks like it's definitely on the order of hundreds: https://github.com/search?p=5&q=amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&type=Issues https://github.com/search?p=5&q=amazing+project+created%3A%3... I opened a few at random to spot-check, and they all seemed like garbage to me. Like this one, ugh https://github.com/mongodb/docs/pull/4402/files https://github.com/mongodb/docs/pull/4402/files

chillee 6y ago
Sorting by relevance doesn't get you a representative sample - that bubbles PRs who say "amazing project" in the title to the top(which are indeed mostly spam). If you restrict it to "in:title", you see that there's only 44: https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&type=Issues https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+amazing+project+creat... And if you sort by "newest" or "oldest", which provide a more representative sample, you can see that most of them are not spam: https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&s=created&type=Issues https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=amazing+project+created%3...
- forgotpwd16 6y ago
  Why restrict in title though? From parent reply it is obvious that the phrase isn't in title yet it is undeniably spam.
  - chillee 6y ago
    I'm trying to get a lower bound on spam PRs filed. If you sort by oldest (instead of by "relevance" as the parent commenter did) and do a spot check, you'll see that a lot of the PR's are legitimate: https://github.com/search?o=asc&q=amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&s=created&type=Issues https://github.com/search?o=asc&q=amazing+project+created%3A... Certainly, restricting to the title misses plenty of PRs. But his search provides 252 PRs, and I'd estimate that easily <100 of them are spam.
- rjmunro 6y ago
  Typically the PRs are titled something like "Improve docs" and the change is to add "an amazing project" somewhere in the README.md. Here's a search that finds a lot: https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+improve+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30+is%3Apr&type=Issues https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+improve+created%3A%3E...
  - chillee 6y ago
    This search makes the same mistake I mentioned above - you think it finds a lot because you're sorting by "relevant" and sampling. Sort by newest and you'll see that the vast majority of these PR's are legitimate: https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=in%3Atitle+improve+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30+is%3Apr&s=created&type=Issues https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=in%3Atitle+improve+create...
    - marcinzm 6y ago
      The results I got show 4 spam PRs out of 10 on the first page. Same on the second and third pages. 60% is not a vast majority legitimate and 40% spam is not inconsequential when it's 86k PRs.
      - chillee 6y ago
        That doesn't match my experience. I looked at the first and 5th page from my link. No spam PRs. https://i.imgur.com/VgOteKy.png https://i.imgur.com/VgOteKy.png https://i.imgur.com/aAZ8xbo.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aAZ8xbo.jpg
        marcinzm 6y ago
        Presumably the spam onslaught is slowing down with time from the video being posted so looking at the most recent results will give an ever fewer percentage of spam. If you look at page 100 of the results (for example, currently 18 hours old) there's a lot more spam. For example: https://imgur.com/a/vxCHvcO https://imgur.com/a/vxCHvcO
touristtam 6y ago
It is so indiscriminate that repos that could be considered dead (7+ years without activity) by the maintainer seems to get massive attention from new accounts just to get that T-Shirt. O_O

chillee 6y ago

Sorting by relevance doesn't get you a representative sample - that bubbles PRs who say "amazing project" in the title to the top(which are indeed mostly spam). If you restrict it to "in:title", you see that there's only 44: https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&type=Issues https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+amazing+project+creat... And if you sort by "newest" or "oldest", which provide a more representative sample, you can see that most of them are not spam: https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&s=created&type=Issues https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=amazing+project+created%3...

forgotpwd16 6y ago
Why restrict in title though? From parent reply it is obvious that the phrase isn't in title yet it is undeniably spam.
- chillee 6y ago
  I'm trying to get a lower bound on spam PRs filed. If you sort by oldest (instead of by "relevance" as the parent commenter did) and do a spot check, you'll see that a lot of the PR's are legitimate: https://github.com/search?o=asc&q=amazing+project+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30&s=created&type=Issues https://github.com/search?o=asc&q=amazing+project+created%3A... Certainly, restricting to the title misses plenty of PRs. But his search provides 252 PRs, and I'd estimate that easily <100 of them are spam.
rjmunro 6y ago
Typically the PRs are titled something like "Improve docs" and the change is to add "an amazing project" somewhere in the README.md. Here's a search that finds a lot: https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+improve+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30+is%3Apr&type=Issues https://github.com/search?q=in%3Atitle+improve+created%3A%3E...
- chillee 6y ago
  This search makes the same mistake I mentioned above - you think it finds a lot because you're sorting by "relevant" and sampling. Sort by newest and you'll see that the vast majority of these PR's are legitimate: https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=in%3Atitle+improve+created%3A%3E%3D2020-09-30+is%3Apr&s=created&type=Issues https://github.com/search?o=desc&q=in%3Atitle+improve+create...
  - marcinzm 6y ago
    The results I got show 4 spam PRs out of 10 on the first page. Same on the second and third pages. 60% is not a vast majority legitimate and 40% spam is not inconsequential when it's 86k PRs.
    - chillee 6y ago
      That doesn't match my experience. I looked at the first and 5th page from my link. No spam PRs. https://i.imgur.com/VgOteKy.png https://i.imgur.com/VgOteKy.png https://i.imgur.com/aAZ8xbo.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aAZ8xbo.jpg
      - marcinzm 6y ago
        Presumably the spam onslaught is slowing down with time from the video being posted so looking at the most recent results will give an ever fewer percentage of spam. If you look at page 100 of the results (for example, currently 18 hours old) there's a lot more spam. For example: https://imgur.com/a/vxCHvcO https://imgur.com/a/vxCHvcO

touristtam 6y ago

It is so indiscriminate that repos that could be considered dead (7+ years without activity) by the maintainer seems to get massive attention from new accounts just to get that T-Shirt. O_O