Carl T. Bergstrom

How badly is Twitter's codebase failing?

When Mar Hicks ( who is a great follow and is here at @histoftech ) tweeted behind a locked account about how badly twitter's code base was failing, twitter's code base failed and when another user shared the URL it was visible to the world—a huge security failure. Moreover their account shows up as private or public depending on the app you use to view the account.

(Link to the article that they were sharing: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/08/1062886/heres-how-a-twitter-engineer-says-it-will-break-in-the-coming-weeks/ )

Nov 9, 2022 at 5:39amWeb
Show thread🍑 gwen 🍑Nov 9, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech holy fuck. so many people rely on privating their acct to stop or limit harassment. that could be downright dangerous :/
Show threadRDS (shawphd on Twitter)Nov 9, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech Wow that’s bad.
Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Nov 9, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech case study for the ages
Show threadNemo_bis 🌈Nov 9, 2022

@ct_bergstrom @histoftech Are we sure it's a glitch? I see people quote-tweet protected accounts all the time. There's even a semi-standard signage "RT @🔒" to do it (semi-manually). Non-followers are supposed to see a warning "this tweet isn'a available" in place of the preview of the quoted tweet.

I think Mastodon is leading people to re-evaluate how Twitter functionality is supposed to work. That's good!

Show threadMelNov 9, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech Wow. I've never observed a screw-up like that before on Twitter (am just a regular user, not working in tech sphere). That's truly bad.
Show threadmx. kino crow 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 9, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech heheheh
Show threadDeborah ArnoldNov 9, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech
Show threadLynoure BraakmanNov 10, 2022

@ct_bergstrom @histoftech

A year ago I lost a follower on Twitter. Literally, she was no longer in my followers nor in whom I follow. I thought she had deleted her account.

But then I searched for her and found her.
0 followers
0 following
Zero tweets, too
The button showed I was following her.
The text said she followed me.

Show threadNanetteNov 11, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech As noted elsewhere, there is the enormous problem of Twitter’s reliance on Red Hat’s Linux that will be retiring, with the new version dependent on Twitter’s now slashed in-house IT team. (Please excuse my ignorance if I haven’t expressed that well. I’m only tangentially in IT!)
Show threadCarl T. BergstromNov 11, 2022

@Nanette @histoftech

Wait, Red Hat? For real?

Show threadNanetteNov 11, 2022
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech Yes, I think I read it in a Wired article. I remarked on it because my daughter used to work at Red Hat. What surprises you about it?
Show threadNanetteJul 3, 2023
@ct_bergstrom @histoftech Yes, Red Hat! Did you work there too? (It’s been a long time since I’ve been on Mastodon!)