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    About the spam trols

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    • DerelictD
      Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
      last edited by

      I think there should be a quiz before you can post.  It would be beneficial to stop both spam and the same questions over and over again.  Example:

      To allow pfSense traffic from LAN hosts to the Internet, any necessary firewall rules must be placed on which interface?

      1. WAN
      2. LAN
      3. Both WAN and LAN
      4. No firewall rules are necessary.

      See Also: https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Firewall_Rule_Troubleshooting#Interface_Selection

      Maybe a couple of those at random…

      Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
      A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
      DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
      Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

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      • N
        Nullity
        last edited by

        @Derelict:

        I think there should be a quiz before you can post.  It would be beneficial to stop both spam and the same questions over and over again.  Example:

        To allow pfSense traffic from LAN hosts to the Internet, any necessary firewall rules must be placed on which interface?

        1. WAN
        2. LAN
        3. Both WAN and LAN
        4. No firewall rules are necessary.

        See Also: https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Firewall_Rule_Troubleshooting#Interface_Selection

        Maybe a couple of those at random…

        Oooh, I like that a lot. 2 birds, 1 stone. :)

        Please correct any obvious misinformation in my posts.
        -Not a professional; an arrogant ignoramous.

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        • stephenw10S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          The actual level of spam doesn't seem like a big problem currently. IMHO.

          Steve

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          • K
            kejianshi
            last edited by

            Me too - I haven't noticed much spam.  Seems under control…

            On a seperate note, please click the links below for great savings (-:

            www.buymyjunk-itssuperawesome.com

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Seems legit…..  :P

              Steve

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              • P
                phil.davis
                last edited by

                @kejianshi:

                Me too - I haven't noticed much spam.  Seems under control…

                On a seperate note, please click the links below for great savings (-:

                www.buymyjunk-itssuperawesome.com

                I know you have a lot of (maybe not super-awesome) junk. So disappointed that the URL does not resolve  :(

                As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."
                If I helped you, then help someone else - buy someone a gift from the INF catalog http://secure.inf.org/gifts/usd/

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                • K
                  kejianshi
                  last edited by

                  I'm actually penniless and junk-less.  I was hacked and had my identity stolen once…  After a short time, they returned it.  Thats how bad it is.

                  But yes - I don't think spam is such a problem now.  I think seeking perfection is a fools errand.  For great expense you could perhaps do a little better but its not worth it.

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                  • M
                    Mr. Jingles
                    last edited by

                    @kejianshi:

                    I think seeking perfection is a fools errand.

                    I know at least 3 people (2 on this forum and 1 in my personal life), 1 company and 1 country who'd disagree with you  ;D

                    6 and a half billion people know that they are stupid, agressive, lower life forms.

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                    • K
                      kejianshi
                      last edited by

                      Its like an arms race.  You can't win.  Its best to not compete but rather to seek a happy medium.

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                      • ?
                        A Former User
                        last edited by

                        @Mr.:

                        @kejianshi:

                        I think seeking perfection is a fools errand.

                        I know at least 3 people (2 on this forum and 1 in my personal life), 1 company and 1 country who'd disagree with you  ;D

                        Fool reporting for duty  ;D

                        Didn't see anything about discourse before. Thanks for pointing that out. Seems like a pretty good option. The mobile (phones/tablets) focus is important IMHO, since there might be a lot of people that are reading up on the forums on phones/tablets when they mess something up and they are trying to fix it. Having an easier read would be helpful.

                        My vote is for whatever lets us edit old posts :P

                        Any chance of herding the offending IPs using a blocklist?

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                        • M
                          Mr. Jingles
                          last edited by

                          @kejianshi:

                          Its like an arms race.  You can't win.

                          ;D

                          We economists have graphs and difficult formulas on both, as well as huge databases with empirical data. Our preliminary hypothesis is that he who aims at the top might actually get there, while he who aims at the bottom most certainly gets there  :P

                          ( ;D )

                          6 and a half billion people know that they are stupid, agressive, lower life forms.

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                          • K
                            kejianshi
                            last edited by

                            OK - So what exactly (not generally) will fix the spam once and for all?  Since you have the data…

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                            • N
                              Nullity
                              last edited by

                              @kejianshi:

                              OK - So what exactly (not generally) will fix the spam once and for all?  Since you have the data…

                              That is the exact same question a spammer would ask… just sayin.

                              Please correct any obvious misinformation in my posts.
                              -Not a professional; an arrogant ignoramous.

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                              • K
                                kejianshi
                                last edited by

                                Well - Sort of.  I just think that if someone is proposing to leave the current system there should be a better system to move on to.  Thats all.  And if you are a proponent of dumping the old system, you should have a new system in mind.  So, by this point I'd expect to see a list of better solutions.

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                                • N
                                  Nullity
                                  last edited by

                                  @kejianshi:

                                  Well - Sort of.  I just think that if someone is proposing to leave the current system there should be a better system to move on to.  Thats all.  And if you are a proponent of dumping the old system, you should have a new system in mind.  So, by this point I'd expect to see a list of better solutions.

                                  Crap. I was only kidding. Can't you read facial expressions? :P

                                  I agree though. I haven't seen any spam myself though and honestly, unless the spam takes up a few pages, I just ignore it. Spam is unavoidable.

                                  Please correct any obvious misinformation in my posts.
                                  -Not a professional; an arrogant ignoramous.

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                                  • N
                                    NOYB
                                    last edited by

                                    @kejianshi:

                                    OK - So what exactly (not generally) will fix the spam once and for all?  Since you have the data…

                                    Oh that's easy.  Pull the plug.  ;)

                                    Kind of like killing a virus is easy too.  Keeping the patient alive through the ordeal is the difficulty.

                                    But seriously the current measures seem to be within reason.  Don't notice much SPAM.

                                    Saw CMB's note about not liking new account post limit.  But what about a rate limit so that if a new account starts spamming it can be detected and dealt with before it becomes a flood.  Yet it would still allow new "legit" accounts to participate.  Just at a little lower post rate.  Also maybe make it multifaceted by only applying it to high risk addresses, and/or other criteria.

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                                    • GruensFroeschliG
                                      GruensFroeschli
                                      last edited by

                                      Most spam we kill by hand is only a single post per account.
                                      So a rate-limit won't help.

                                      We do what we must, because we can.

                                      Asking questions the smart way: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Spam at the moment seems to be at most mildly annoying. Where it becomes a problem is if spammers get better and post links to places where bad things happen. I would be in favour of preventing people posting clickable links for the first, say, 10 posts. New users with real problems can still post links but they won't be directly clickable. Of course I don't know if that's possible.  ;)

                                        Steve

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                                        • jimpJ
                                          jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10:

                                          I would be in favour of preventing people posting clickable links for the first, say, 10 posts. New users with real problems can still post links but they won't be directly clickable. Of course I don't know if that's possible.  ;)

                                          They wise up to that and post X+Y spam posts where X=# of posts before links are allowed. It may help stop a couple, but not the bad ones… We get some that drop between 20-50 spam posts in a very short time span.

                                          Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

                                          Need help fast? Netgate Global Support!

                                          Do not Chat/PM for help!

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                                          • N
                                            NOYB
                                            last edited by

                                            @GruensFroeschli:

                                            Most spam we kill by hand is only a single post per account.
                                            So a rate-limit won't help.

                                            A rate limit is not intended for those accounts.  It's intended for the ones jimp mentiontions below.

                                            @jimp:

                                            They wise up to that and post X+Y spam posts where X=# of posts before links are allowed. It may help stop a couple, but not the bad ones… We get some that drop between 20-50 spam posts in a very short time span.

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