Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Main page protection robot
- Operator: east718
- Automatic or Manually Assisted: Fully automatic; no human supervision
- Programming Languages: Python plus Twisted
- Already has a bot flag: no
This robot is a (working) clone of MPUploadBot, which malfunctioned several times and was eventually blocked a month ago. Since then, images on the main page have been open to vandalism regularly, and there's been no development on a software extension to extend cascading protection to Commons. The functionality of this robot is exactly the same as the old one: it will search for images used on the main page, then locally upload all images that are in use, hosted on Commons, and unprotected. The source code is public and available here.
The major difference between this and the old robot is that X!'s would run at specified intervals - every five minutes if my memory is serving me correctly. Mine detects changes to the main page in real time, which eliminates the possibility of timing attacks against enwiki being made on Commons (unless an admin places an already vandalized photo on the main page). east718 // talk // email // 03:14, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
Discussion
- You realize of course I've been working on getting it back to working condition, and that it's almost ready to be released? Xclamation point 03:15, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
- X! and I spoke privately and he's reconsidering whether he wants to be in charge of this specific task (keeping the Main Page images protected). I imagine he'll post here where there is more to report.
As for this specific request, most of it seems fine. My only request is for the bot to run in a log-only mode for a while and have that log posted somewhere to ensure it does what it is supposed to do. Other than that, no objections from me. --MZMcBride (talk) 05:07, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
- X! and I spoke privately and he's reconsidering whether he wants to be in charge of this specific task (keeping the Main Page images protected). I imagine he'll post here where there is more to report.