jwzFeb 15, 2023
@[email protected] @timbray I gave up on crowdsourced blacklists long ago. My experience, in the context of email spam, is that eventually the admin has a tantrum and ends up blocking all of AWS or some shit.
Show threadTim BrayFeb 15, 2023

@jwz @lwndow

Hmm interesting. Given the structure of the Fediverse, with thousands of instances, and the fact that brand-new troll instances pop up regularly, it'd be nice to have some sort of shared-block capability.

Show threadjwzFeb 15, 2023
@timbray @[email protected] Sure, and it's probably necessary to try... but there seems to be something about operating a blocklist that eventually makes the operator lose their damn mind and double down on some scorched-earth change that, while probably "in accordance with policy", also ends up just breaking everything for everybody.
Show threadDon Whiteside
@jwz too much overlap with node module developer perhaps
Feb 15, 2023 at 8:44pmWeb
Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Feb 15, 2023
@donw @jwz open source developers breaking dependency chains because they're being exploited is not the same as block list owners becoming unaccountable and abusive when maintaining a widely used block list, although i understand why it may seem similar at first. there's a power differential, and making a library unusable does not cause interpersonal harm
Show threadDon WhitesideFeb 15, 2023
@hipsterelectron every tantrum-thrower thinks they have a good reason for their tantrum.
Show threadflere-imsaho 🇺🇦Feb 15, 2023

@donw @jwz this is not related to any technology (unless you're just alluding to a person, then ignore the rest)

there's a specific type (to drastically simplify, think lawful good) that thrives on very hands-on, very detailed rule-making. they like to be useful, they like to punish transgressors, they don't like unrighteous who don't heed their warnings.

when they end in a position of a sole decision maker, which they frequently do, because they're driven by duty, the damage they end doing is immense.

(i think that any person managing their own mail server for longer than a decade would recognize the phenomenon)