GitHub user sends notification to 400k users • Hacker News Board

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#171

Post by pacetherace » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:39 AM UTC

fastball wrote: post #130

Something like this happened at my university a number of years ago. There was a side entrance that was ostensibly for usage by people with bikes (as it was part of the bike storage area), but it was much more convenient than the main entrance and all you had to do to get access was ask at the security desk. So anyway basically everyone on this campus with 10k+ students and more staff had access to the side entrance.…

I graduated 8 years ago and I check my university mailing address only for such useless but funny mail threads. haha

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#172

Post by sverhagen » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:41 AM UTC

brundolf wrote: post #155

Slightly OT, but it's always been weird to me how Epic requires you to add yourself to their organization on GitHub before you can access the Unreal source. I don't see how it serves any real authentication purpose; anyone can get added to it, and anyway, it's not like the code is secret when 400k people are on there Am I missing something?

I got curious and just found PR #20, which made me think this scheme gives Epic a way to hitch onto GitHub's management of export controls. I.e., if you're in a country to which US companies aren't allowed to disclose software, GitHub likely has this figured out, and by Epic requiring a GitHub account, they don't have to figure out all the rules and regulations themselves (again).

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#173

Post by antoineMoPa » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:42 AM UTC

bityard wrote: post #64

antoineMoPa wrote: post #24

Fun fact: at some point I wrote @param in a PR comment, talking about a parameter's doc. I only realized after posting that there was an actual user named @param.

I have a two-letter github username and get tagged accidentally all the time. Also invitations to private repos.

Does tagging you automatically invite you to private repos?

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#174

Post by thrownawayalre » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:45 AM UTC

brundolf wrote: post #159

thrownawayalre wrote: post #124

Innocent mistake. The kid is barely 18. The emotion and stress resulting from mistakenly sending a notification to 400,000 is likely overwhelming. Now his real name is going to stay at the center of the internet for a while thanks to being 1st on HN. I would definitely not have coped well with that much internet attention at his age. Some Github replies are more immature than the initial action and I hope he does not…

Some have speculated based on the changes that it was not a well-meaning PR, that it was just an attempt to game the system (similar to what hordes of people do on Hacktoberfest). Of course it's hard to know

Speculating or repeating speculations on why he did this is not moving the ball forward at this point. It has been a harmless event so far. Github is now aware of an issue that would have come up eventually anyway and they can add future warnings when notifying >10,000 people, Epic can update the structure/permissions of their Github org, and the kid can keep his passion for tech intact. Win-win-win.

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#175

Post by mike256 » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:45 AM UTC

seba_dos1 wrote: post #10

tony wrote: post #5

The toothpaste is out of the tube - notifications are going to be scrutinized more in the future, from this point on. I got the email. And about 20+ responses to that email. Every person who replies to that issue triggers another 400k emails. Personally, my email client is crashing. EpicGames, as a GitHub org is an outlier, it's basically an SSO for Unreal Engine. I forgot I was even a member of it.

It must be hard for GitHub servers, but which e-mail client is crashing from about 100 short, text-only messages received in an hour?

Most probably Outlook! Imho the worst e-mail client on earth with a massive base of absolutely blind fanboys in almost every company...

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#176

Post by sverhagen » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:48 AM UTC

indrora wrote: post #160

montag wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual PR looks so poor that I can't imagine it was submitted in good faith.

The person who submitted it Is, according to their github page, a nary 18 years old. One cannot say in good faith that they were a beacon of perfect judgement at 18. Anyone who says so is either looking to buy or sell a bridge in New York.

The delta between good and bad faith/intentions on the internet may be much larger than the delta between me at 18 and me at 44. There's also very bright 18 year olds contributing usefully to GitHub repositories. So, for me personally, the recurring assertion that they are "only" 18yo doesn't do much for me.

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#177

Post by olingern » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:49 AM UTC

md224 wrote: post #141

landr0id wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They require you to acknowledge some terms that grant you access to the Unreal Engine source code. They grant it by adding you to their GitHub org which has the engine source code as a private repo.

Maybe it's just me but this seems like a misuse of GitHub orgs...

Yeah, seems like a silly way to grant access

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#178

Post by yakaccount4 » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:49 AM UTC

The problem is that GitHub's default subscription behavior is terrible. Unless the repo is mine or my account is directly @'d I shouldn't receive anything.

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#179

Post by sverhagen » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:52 AM UTC

cmckn wrote: post #14

tony wrote: post #5

The toothpaste is out of the tube - notifications are going to be scrutinized more in the future, from this point on. I got the email. And about 20+ responses to that email. Every person who replies to that issue triggers another 400k emails. Personally, my email client is crashing. EpicGames, as a GitHub org is an outlier, it's basically an SSO for Unreal Engine. I forgot I was even a member of it.

There was a thundering herd e-mail at Amazon about 10 years ago that I’ve heard stories about. It went on for days. There’s a funny internal talk with lots of data about it, maybe it’s on YouTube by now…

Looking around, everyone has a story like this, so I don't want to just pile on with my similar experience at Verizon. But what stood out at me there was the low quality responses from low-level managers in far parts of the world, demanding, by the power vested in them, to be taken off the email chain... you know... IMMEDIATELY!

Re: GitHub user sends notification to 400k users

#180

Post by inferiorhuman » Sun, Jun 05, 2022, 4:53 AM UTC

Stratoscope wrote: post #145

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's... odd. Was this a long time ago? Because these days Android has work profiles that specifically exist to let you shove work stuff in its own separate space that can be managed separately from the rest of the device, and Google itself not using the feature that they built into the OS to support that exact situation would seem really weird.

Yeah, it was a while ago, and it's possible that I could be remembering some details wrong. It just struck me as "no, I would rather carry a separate work phone if I have to."

Yeah BlackBerry 10 had a similar feature called BlackBerry Balance. Still I'd rather carry two separate phones.