Re: Spam message when using CVS for webpages

[Gavin Smith]

On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 03:32:44PM +0000, Ineiev wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 18, 2023 at 03:46:55PM +0100, Gavin Smith wrote:
> > I am trying to update a project's webpages after a new release, but
> > every time I issue a cvs command the message is printed:
> > 
> > > sv_membersh is part of Savane.
> > > In order to download the corresponding source code of Savane, run
> > > 
> > >   rsync -avz --cvs-exclude gavin@cvs.savannah.nongnu.org:/opt/src/savane .
> > 
> > I don't know what sv_membersh or Savane is or why I should care.
> 
> Savane is the free software hosting system savannah.gnu.org runs.
> 
> sv_membersh is the restricted shell used as the login shell for Savane users
> when they connect via SSH.
> 
> Savane released under the AGPL; offering the corresponding source code
> is a requirement of the AGPL.
> 
> Do you think the message should elaborate on these points?

I don't know; if it is truly a requirement of the AGPL then it could be
more clear that this is why the message is being printed.  It looks too
much like an error message.  Maybe it could be prefixed with
"Affero GPL notice: "?

I had never chosen to run "sv_membersh" - the command I was running was
"cvs".  The fact that messages are being printed with details about
internal workings make it look like something is broken.  Even if it
uses SSH internally, I am not really thinking about SSH when I run cvs.

Perhaps the message could also contain clear instructions on how to turn
it off, too.

> The problem is, we don't deploy the exactly same version for all
> Savannah hosts at once, we update them one by one, so you hardly
> would be able to tell which Git commit corresponds to software
> running on the particular host; this feature makes sure the users
> can download the right version.

Could you put instructions on the Savannah web portal for checking
versions of software and getting corresponding source code for different
hosts, which users could refer to instead of sending them the message?

I am not familiar with the Affero GPL but I looked at section 13
"Remote Network Interaction") (at
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.en.html).

"... your modified version must prominently offer all users interacting
with it remotely through a computer network (if your version supports
such interaction) an opportunity to receive the Corresponding Source of
your version"

I don't know if I really could have been said to be "interacting" with
sv_membersh.  It was running as a back-end service for one-off commands
that I was running from the command line.

Another suggestion is to ensure that anybody running these command line
commands also has access to the Savannah web portal.  Then the "offer"
could be provided through the web portal, rather than by printing
output to the terminal.

> > Can this unnecessary and annoying message please be removed?
> 
> You can disable that message in your Savannah account configuration
> (the 'Quiet SSH member shell' checkbox).

Thanks, I will do that.