7 ms·

it seems pretty obvious that they mean any file extension registered to a known MIME type.

by a-dub 5y ago

AlfeG 5y ago
I guess author of ticket were referring to internal type name mime_type
gpvos 5y ago
It's easy, basic, and very important for clarity to use the correct terminology in this case. A MIME type is really something different.
- p49k 5y ago
  It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to be able to know and use terminology perfectly. The description itself was well-written and that’s what’s important in terms of finding/fixing the issue.
  - rjmunro 5y ago
    The bug reporter merely copies the incorrect error that gitlab gave him; The issue here is that someone working in login / security of gitlab doesn't know what a mime type is. That is extremely worrying - it's not a part of the code where you can afford to be sloppy. It's a very odd error. Apparently .nro is a file extension used by the Nintendo Switch video game console; .o is obviously the output of compilers, so I'm not sure why my username wasn't rejected. Maybe it would be if I tried to register now.
  - DonHopkins 5y ago
    It's foolish to use a standard well defined very precise but incorrect term of art like like "MIME Type" that is actively misleading to a technical audience of github users who are more likely than most people to know the standard official definition, and which is LESS commonly known than a correct widely understood vernacular term like "file name extension", if your goal is to be understood by everyone. I'd rather a technically oriented site like github be "unrealistic" and correct and instructive, than foolish and wrong and misleading. Are you really saying it's better to use the wrong term because github users might not understand the more widely known correct term? Just how does leading the user on a wild goose chase looking up the definition of "MIME Type," causing them to waste their time and misunderstand the error message, when it's really a file name extension (a term which more people understand anyway), help the user achieve their goals? The bottom line is that github disallowing "MIME Types" or "file name extensions" in user names, just like a bank disallowing "select" and "drop" and "from" and "null" and "delete" and "bobby" and "tables" in passwords, is a symptom of a much larger more terrible problem, and whoever wrote that stupid error message instead of fixing the underlying bug that caused it has much worse problems than poor English language writing skills.
    - p49k 5y ago
      Sorry, I thought you were referring to the bug reporter rather than the author of the error message itself, in the latter case I agree.
    - carl_dr 5y ago
      Muphry's law strikes again! The bug affected Gitlab, not GitHub.
- a-dub 5y ago
  "ERROR: The Gitlab server has rejected the proposed username, as it ends in the same suffix as a file extension that is registered to a MIME type in the Ruby runtime under which the server runs. This list is quite long, and possibly difficult to retrieve, so we will not list it here, but you can find a list of extensions commonly used if you Google for MIME. Alternatively, if this makes no sense at all, ask a local alpha geek and they should be able to help. We understand this is weird, but the reasons for doing so are currently embargoed as they potentially have wide ranging security or stability consequences for a large number of installs. If you wouldn't mind, please do us a small one and keep quiet while we have a chance to prepare and distribute a patch without forcing anyone to forego any nights of sleep 18 months into a global pandemic complete with associated societal fracturing and potential economic collapse. Thank you for your cooperation on this easy, basic and very important matter." fixed it!
hnlmorg 5y ago
In fairness, it is Gitlabs wording the issue reporter is using. Check the error message.
- Grollicus 5y ago
  Gitlab recently exchanged the "WIP" prefix for merge requests (Work in Progress = started to do something but didn't complete it yet) for "Draft", which has connotations of throwing the draft/sketch away to build the final product. Which is definitively not what is meant there. But I think it shows that Gitlab is not a company I'd go to if I wanted linguistic precision.
  - gls2ro 5y ago
    I am not a native English speaker (and I don't work at Gitlab) but I am curious and interested in using proper terms, as I think as developer that naming is a very important skill. So, I find strange this meaning that you give for a "draft" = that it is something that has connotation of throwing away when building the final product. I think you are confusing a "draft" with a "sketch" and they are not the same. I googled the term "draft" and here is what I found: > "a version of something (such as a document) that you make before you make the final version" [1] > "A preliminary version of a piece of writing." [2] While "sketch" means: > "a rough drawing representing the chief features of an object or scene and often made as a preliminary study" [3] > "A rough or unfinished version of any creative work." [3] > "A rough or unfinished drawing or painting, often made to assist in making a more finished picture." [4] In the case of sketch I see some keywords like "preliminary study" or "assist" or "unfinished version" that indicates that the sketch will not be the final product. So while it is true that a Draft could be thrown away if someone has new/better/difference ideas while working on it, it does not seem to imply that a Draft should be thrown when building the final product. As far as I understand it is more that a draft will evolve into a final product or might be abandoned. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/draft https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/draft [2] https://www.lexico.com/definition/draft https://www.lexico.com/definition/draft [3] https://www.lexico.com/definition/sketch https://www.lexico.com/definition/sketch [4] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sketch https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sketch
DonHopkins 5y ago
Since file extensions can be any three or fewer (or even more) valid characters, then no string ending with zero to three characters, in other words, no user names are valid.
jfrunyon 5y ago
No file extension <-> MIME type "registry" exists. File extensions exist completely outside of MIME. Many file extensions do not correspond to a registered MIME type, or in many cases even a de-facto one (other than application/octet-stream or text/plain). It seems pretty obvious - based on the failed username in question, and to someone with fairly deep technical knowledge - that they mean anything they consider a file extension. Which is not an excuse for this marvel of awful UI slapped on top of a poorly-thought-out workaround (for some unknown vuln (that's been patched for over 2 months and is still private? quite strange for an "open" company eh?).
- yuliyp 5y ago
  Officially no such registry exists. In practice, Apache does have such a registry by default: https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/httpd/httpd/trunk/docs/conf/mime.types https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/httpd/httpd/trunk/docs/conf... and other systems do use that mapping or a similar one.
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    > File extensions exist completely outside of MIME. Yes. I am well aware that certain software, such as Windows, MimeMagic, or Apache, do include their own lists. That is not a "registry" and in fact you will likely find that every such list is either identical to, a fork of, or incompatible with every other such list.
    - yuliyp 5y ago
      I agree with you, I think? Whether you call such a list a registry or not is fairly trivial, I think. Their web server uses such a mapping, and for some reason usernames with suffixes on that list confused something. Call it a registry, or a mapping, or a list, the meaning of the statement is the same, and I don't think it prevents most people from understanding what's going on.
      - jfrunyon 5y ago
hibbelig 5y ago
> it seems pretty obvious that they mean any file extension registered to a known MIME type. I guess I'm dense, but I actually thought it's about users such as Mr. Joe R Text/Plain. When I read about "mov" in the actual issue, then it became clear.

it seems pretty obvious that they mean any file extension registered to a known MIME type.

by a-dub 5y ago

it seems pretty obvious that they mean any file extension registered to a known MIME type.

AlfeG 5y ago

I guess author of ticket were referring to internal type name mime_type

gpvos 5y ago

It's easy, basic, and very important for clarity to use the correct terminology in this case. A MIME type is really something different.

p49k 5y ago
It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to be able to know and use terminology perfectly. The description itself was well-written and that’s what’s important in terms of finding/fixing the issue.
- rjmunro 5y ago
  The bug reporter merely copies the incorrect error that gitlab gave him; The issue here is that someone working in login / security of gitlab doesn't know what a mime type is. That is extremely worrying - it's not a part of the code where you can afford to be sloppy. It's a very odd error. Apparently .nro is a file extension used by the Nintendo Switch video game console; .o is obviously the output of compilers, so I'm not sure why my username wasn't rejected. Maybe it would be if I tried to register now.
- DonHopkins 5y ago
  It's foolish to use a standard well defined very precise but incorrect term of art like like "MIME Type" that is actively misleading to a technical audience of github users who are more likely than most people to know the standard official definition, and which is LESS commonly known than a correct widely understood vernacular term like "file name extension", if your goal is to be understood by everyone. I'd rather a technically oriented site like github be "unrealistic" and correct and instructive, than foolish and wrong and misleading. Are you really saying it's better to use the wrong term because github users might not understand the more widely known correct term? Just how does leading the user on a wild goose chase looking up the definition of "MIME Type," causing them to waste their time and misunderstand the error message, when it's really a file name extension (a term which more people understand anyway), help the user achieve their goals? The bottom line is that github disallowing "MIME Types" or "file name extensions" in user names, just like a bank disallowing "select" and "drop" and "from" and "null" and "delete" and "bobby" and "tables" in passwords, is a symptom of a much larger more terrible problem, and whoever wrote that stupid error message instead of fixing the underlying bug that caused it has much worse problems than poor English language writing skills.
  - p49k 5y ago
    Sorry, I thought you were referring to the bug reporter rather than the author of the error message itself, in the latter case I agree.
  - carl_dr 5y ago
    Muphry's law strikes again! The bug affected Gitlab, not GitHub.
a-dub 5y ago
"ERROR: The Gitlab server has rejected the proposed username, as it ends in the same suffix as a file extension that is registered to a MIME type in the Ruby runtime under which the server runs. This list is quite long, and possibly difficult to retrieve, so we will not list it here, but you can find a list of extensions commonly used if you Google for MIME. Alternatively, if this makes no sense at all, ask a local alpha geek and they should be able to help. We understand this is weird, but the reasons for doing so are currently embargoed as they potentially have wide ranging security or stability consequences for a large number of installs. If you wouldn't mind, please do us a small one and keep quiet while we have a chance to prepare and distribute a patch without forcing anyone to forego any nights of sleep 18 months into a global pandemic complete with associated societal fracturing and potential economic collapse. Thank you for your cooperation on this easy, basic and very important matter." fixed it!

hnlmorg 5y ago

In fairness, it is Gitlabs wording the issue reporter is using. Check the error message.

Grollicus 5y ago
Gitlab recently exchanged the "WIP" prefix for merge requests (Work in Progress = started to do something but didn't complete it yet) for "Draft", which has connotations of throwing the draft/sketch away to build the final product. Which is definitively not what is meant there. But I think it shows that Gitlab is not a company I'd go to if I wanted linguistic precision.
- gls2ro 5y ago
  I am not a native English speaker (and I don't work at Gitlab) but I am curious and interested in using proper terms, as I think as developer that naming is a very important skill. So, I find strange this meaning that you give for a "draft" = that it is something that has connotation of throwing away when building the final product. I think you are confusing a "draft" with a "sketch" and they are not the same. I googled the term "draft" and here is what I found: > "a version of something (such as a document) that you make before you make the final version" [1] > "A preliminary version of a piece of writing." [2] While "sketch" means: > "a rough drawing representing the chief features of an object or scene and often made as a preliminary study" [3] > "A rough or unfinished version of any creative work." [3] > "A rough or unfinished drawing or painting, often made to assist in making a more finished picture." [4] In the case of sketch I see some keywords like "preliminary study" or "assist" or "unfinished version" that indicates that the sketch will not be the final product. So while it is true that a Draft could be thrown away if someone has new/better/difference ideas while working on it, it does not seem to imply that a Draft should be thrown when building the final product. As far as I understand it is more that a draft will evolve into a final product or might be abandoned. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/draft https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/draft [2] https://www.lexico.com/definition/draft https://www.lexico.com/definition/draft [3] https://www.lexico.com/definition/sketch https://www.lexico.com/definition/sketch [4] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sketch https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sketch

DonHopkins 5y ago

Since file extensions can be any three or fewer (or even more) valid characters, then no string ending with zero to three characters, in other words, no user names are valid.

jfrunyon 5y ago

No file extension <-> MIME type "registry" exists. File extensions exist completely outside of MIME. Many file extensions do not correspond to a registered MIME type, or in many cases even a de-facto one (other than application/octet-stream or text/plain). It seems pretty obvious - based on the failed username in question, and to someone with fairly deep technical knowledge - that they mean anything they consider a file extension. Which is not an excuse for this marvel of awful UI slapped on top of a poorly-thought-out workaround (for some unknown vuln (that's been patched for over 2 months and is still private? quite strange for an "open" company eh?).

yuliyp 5y ago
Officially no such registry exists. In practice, Apache does have such a registry by default: https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/httpd/httpd/trunk/docs/conf/mime.types https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/httpd/httpd/trunk/docs/conf... and other systems do use that mapping or a similar one.
- jfrunyon 5y ago
  > File extensions exist completely outside of MIME. Yes. I am well aware that certain software, such as Windows, MimeMagic, or Apache, do include their own lists. That is not a "registry" and in fact you will likely find that every such list is either identical to, a fork of, or incompatible with every other such list.
  - yuliyp 5y ago
    I agree with you, I think? Whether you call such a list a registry or not is fairly trivial, I think. Their web server uses such a mapping, and for some reason usernames with suffixes on that list confused something. Call it a registry, or a mapping, or a list, the meaning of the statement is the same, and I don't think it prevents most people from understanding what's going on.
    - jfrunyon 5y ago

hibbelig 5y ago

> it seems pretty obvious that they mean any file extension registered to a known MIME type. I guess I'm dense, but I actually thought it's about users such as Mr. Joe R Text/Plain. When I read about "mov" in the actual issue, then it became clear.