Look, we can debate the proper and private way to do Captchas all day, but if we remove the existing implementation we will be plunged into a world of hurt.
I run tucson.social - a tiny instance with barely any users and I find myself really ticked off at other Admin’s abdication of duty when it comes to engaging with the developers.
For all the Fediverse discussion on this, where are the github issue comments? Where is our attempt to convince the devs in this.
No, seriously WHERE ARE THEY?
Oh, you think that just because an “Issue” exists to bring back Captchas is the best you can do?
NO it is not the best we can do, we need to be applying some pressure to the developers here and that requires EVERYONE to do their part.
The Devs can’t make Lemmy an awesome place for us if us admins refuse to meaningfully engage with the project and provide feedback on crucial things like this.
So are you an admin? If so, we need more comments here: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3200
We need to make it VERY clear that Captcha is required before v0.18’s release. Not after when we’ll all be scrambling…
EDIT: To be clear I’m talking to all instance admins, not just Beehaw’s.
UPDATE: Our voices were heard! https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3200#issuecomment-1600505757
The important part was that this was a decision to re-implement the old (if imperfect) solution in time for the upcoming release. mCaptcha and better techs are indeed the better solution, but at least we won’t make ourselves more vulnerable at this critical juncture.
I know I’m veering kinda OT right now but speaking of captchas, they can also be used as a troll throttle by requiring captchas for posting if heuristics (think spamassassin) say that a user is being inflammatory, or falling for troll bait, or such. In case you understand German, have a video.
One specific feature of such a system is that it never absolutely denies users to post their comment as-is, but it may require them to solve multiple captchas (by claiming that the previous ones failed). That is, it bogs down to a simple psychological equation: Do I really care about being an assclown or feeding trolls enough to jump through those hoops. Especially the discouraging of troll feeding is highly effective as when trolls don’t get engagement, they leave.