Sphinn - Say No to Technorati’s Forced Upgrades - Bad Information Spreads Like Wildfire

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Say No to Technorati’s Forced Upgrades - Bad Information Spreads Like Wildfire

Went Hot: April 11, 2008 - 1:29 pm
Posted By: WebGeek 187 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.hybrid6.com)
Category: Blogging

I have to strongly disagree with Technorati's recent forced upgrades. I dislike strong-arming tactics like this, and think it's dangerous, for several reasons. At the risk of voicing a potentially unpopular opinion, I feel strongly that this needs to be said.

17 Comments

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from tnash 187 days ago #

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While I agree blindly upgrading is not a wise idea security by obscurity is not exactly a wise idea either ;)

from WebGeek 187 days ago #

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Agreed, and note, I only included as as an option for people who are concerned about being kicked out of Technorati. I definitely wouldn't stop there. :)

from tnash 187 days ago #

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The irony http://sphinn.com/story/40051

However it should be stated that this may effect previous versions as well

from WebGeek 187 days ago #

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Yeah, I noticed that. :)

from markymark 187 days ago #

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I agree 100% with this article. I hate any kind of interference or dictation by third parties in what I do with my websites. If I want to use WordPress, then I don't want to be strong armed into using the version that suits someone else, anymore than I want to have to speed up the loading times of landing pages because Google thinks it's a good idea.

I KNOW what's best for my sites and my business.

from brian 187 days ago #

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I'm not so sure I agree with the point about not being able to choose specific versions. I moved over to the Subversion method, and using svn, you can select the distribution you want to install here:

http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/tags/

It made updating to 2.5 nearly effortless, when the instructions were followed.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing/Updating_WordPress_with_Subversion

from spidaman 186 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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This is a lot of FUD. Nobody is strong-arming anybody, the vulnerabilities in legacy WordPress installations are being rampantly exploited. My full response is here http://www.arachna.com/roller/page/spidaman/20080411#fear_uncertainty_and_disinformation_about

from WebGeek 186 days ago #

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@brian: I didn't say you couldn't upgrade to a specific version - Notice I said that a large # of bloggers are not famililiar with that process, and that it wouldn't be practical for a lot of bloggers to upgrade to version 2.3.3 specifically.

@arachna: It's absolutely not FUD.

from cartermason 186 days ago #

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spidaman -

Uhhh, yes it is strong-arming and a major fear tactic. Even though Technorati delivers a pittance of traffic compared to other sources for most blogs, it will freak unknowledgeable persons out to the point they may irrationally upgrade to 2.5. Which I did on a personal blog with little traffic just to test it, and it broke my theme. And then an old theme I switched to, yeah, that was broken, too.

There are other solutions which would handle the issue Technorati cares about, and their solution of forcing upgrades is so easily worked around this policy does more harm than good.

from tnash 186 days ago #

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Cough moderators can we get a moderator !
:) no oh well,

when the comment above this one is deleted this comment will no longer make sense.

from swags2804 186 days ago #

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@tnash I saw it too Tim... Damn! Now we both look daft ;)

from spidaman 186 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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Sorry, it is FUD because it's full of inaccuracies about what measures Technorati has specifically implemented, illogical arguments about where the greater risks are and mixes in code stewardship arguments (API compatibility, etc) with security ones. Anyway, you can keep your head in the sand about it or read the full story here http://www.arachna.com/roller/page/spidaman/20080411#fear_uncertainty_and_disinformation_about

from WebGeek 186 days ago # - show/hide this comment

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No need to be rude. If your policies are indeed misrepresented, then perhaps you should clarify them for the public, on the Technorati official blog, because the messages being transmitted on your official blog are contrary to what you're saying.

from mvandemar 186 days ago #

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@spidaman -

Now that securityfocus.com is reporting that 2.5 suffers from multiple sql injections vulnerabilities in wp-comments-post.php, do you have any plans to amend this statement?

Fear: Being New Doesn't Make WordPress 2.5 More Secure
This is Dubya-esque illogical FUD.

Since, you know, despite being illogical it actually is still not more secure, and all that good stuff...

from spidaman 185 days ago #

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That securityfocus posting connects some data points for me, I've seen that exploit in action but on older WP installations. Since securityfocus is saying all WP versions are vulnerable, that changes the picture.

from mvandemar 185 days ago #

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So, is that a yes you will plan to ammend your post?

from mvandemar 185 days ago #

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nm, I see the new post. :)