Enable .txt attachments

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Hello Fedora, hope you all are doing well and having a happy sunday

I was curious if Fedora would consider enabling users to upload .txt files (text files!) to the forums @ discussion.fedoraproject.org

right now it is configured to enable uploading specific image formats, such as .jpg

and it could be the case, if people supported it,
that the forums could let us upload .txt text files!

I think it would be a big improvement, especially given how enthusiastic Gnu/Linux users are about their text files.

For an example, I actually made an account recently for the sole purpose of sharing a text file with Fedora!

I wanted to share a .config text file for the linux kernel with fedora users, but because we are unable to upload text files I was forced to jump through all the hoops of so many click bait websites (pastebins) for hours trying to meet their limitations trying to simply, again, upload a text file.

It is a large text file, which makes things a little more difficult, but the point remains, that right now, in order to share text files with each other on https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/ we have to rely on third-party providers!

I think it would be a major improvement, and clearly acceptable.

2

In the case of that large .config file, maybe you could have posted a diff that just showed what you had changed from the original version?

3

Text files loaded onto Discussion would still need some kind of scrutiny from the mods.

I’d rather follow a link to a personal forge repo.

4

i usually just paste whatever i want by using the option to paste text, usually works great if the text is not longer than some hundreds of lines

i heard not long ago about some security concerns in txt and config files, so that is why most forums will let you put links or insert images from another site to avoid problems

5

well it’s obviously essential, just like having a conversation, we are sharing text basically

a file uploaded to the forums, would have to be clearly marked as .txt

this prevents it from being understood by computer programs as anything beyond plain text, or needing anything else besides plain text processing.

the file extension in other words, is a basic security element

its practically the safest thing you can possibly upload to a website

in the case of the .config that is similar to other text files on a typical Gnu/Linux system, that are very large, exceeding the limitations for posts, that is obviously a perfect example, of where the ability to upload the simplest form of attachment to a post, a .txt file is essential

6

if there wasnt ways to force a server to take a modified file that looks normal but it isnt, if never happened before i would believe it

the paste text button is to avoid that and in some forums that option is also disabled to avoid surprises

7

If the file is very large and exceeds reasonable limits of what a person can read on the forum post, then why would you include it in a forum post?

Forum posts are expected to be read by people. So you need to extract code snippets or log snippets relevant to the conversation to make a point.

…if you want to allow uploads at all.

Log files are generally shared in Bugzilla bugtracker, and code/configs.. are shared in a Git Forge with good tools to preview and compare them. I don’t think we have a good use case to store large unreadable text as forum artifacts, and we don’t want to become a generic file exchange service.

8

Look guys it’s standard practice on lots of different tech forums

It’s obviously a simple, while major improvement to https://discussion.fedoraproject.org

And it is clearly warranted by it’s own dedicated users ←

Forcing people to rely on insecure third party providers, is frankly offensive to me personally, not to mention the fact, that Fedora seems to be inclined to make a ‘security’ based argument against the sharing of .txt files, which is obviously ridiculous.

I was just trying to make a brief, helpful comment

If Fedora can’t handle the security implications of users freely sharing text files with each other, than I’m sure I have absolutely joined the incorrect web forum to talk about technical issues with others

9

i come from other forums that dont even let me paste stuff or quote anyone

how long are your config files that you are telling all this and causing this drama when already had multiple explanations why it is a bad idea

like we did, that is the main purpose of a forum, no need to make a problem for a plain text that you can copy and paste here, explain others how to copy and paste the text into a file they can create in their machines with very little problem because, it is just a plain text.

10

the forum enables users to upload a variety of attachments, primarily image formats currently

like .jpg .png or .gif

it would be a simple, and major improvement to enable users to upload .txt attachments

even in the case of very large text files, like the linux kernels .config file (probably the biggest text file you’ll get 99% of the time)

text files are going to be fractions of the size of most image files users upload

its like I said. it’s a very simple improvement to the website https://discussion.fedoraproject.org

no reason to argue about it guys. it’s a text file!

I didn’t realize I would have to outline this utterly basic logic to make the case for .txt file attachments on https://discussion.fedoraproject.org

It would be more logical, if you wanted to be argumentative, to make the case against the ability of users to upload .jpg and .jpeg files, which are clearly a far greater security vulnerability and tax burden on the servers limited resources than the humble, friendly .txt file.

We should probably be discussing the fact, that users here, have way too much freedom as it is! And that freedom should be restricted.

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shhh! forum moderators might remember that option is enabled and might remove it now!

for you, already very well explained by others why it should not be

already explained that same argument, multiple times, copy paste and use the right button whe composing the reply and you should be fine avoiding the other services that you mentioned you were using for config files

about freedom, we have the freedom to answer to you or not, i will use my freedom here to stop reading replies you make about this topic because it reached its end, you got upset because you were explained why is not going to be and now you are talking about others rights, on a public forum you dont pay for, that is the end of that.

12

Are you guys using AI chat bots to talk to people here?

It’s a simple request to again, “enable .txt attachments”

no reason to overreact about it, it clearly doesn’t have any intelligent arguments to the contrary…

I was not personally arguing in favor of enabling .txt attachments by the way.

I was just making a statement, I think it’s a good idea.

Hello Fedora, hope you all are doing well and having a happy sunday

13

so my post totally broke fedoras ai chat bot as usual…

this is apparently fedoras pastebin
-> https://paste.centos.org/ <-

but only allows us to upload text for 1 day at the max

I searched around a little while, debians pastebin is typically useful, but the file I want to share with other fedora users is over 1k lines, and is too big for many sites

it appears fedora doesnt have a similarly good pastebin

the internet is full of fake ai generated websites with guides for linux users, that all the main stream search engines pipe clueless vulnerable people to, and away from each other, and real human interaction

apparently there is https://paste.ubuntu.com.cn

but I can’t read chinese

it’s a constant feedback loop, directing users into a massive human trap basically, of AI websites, AI chat bots, foreign/remote surveillance, and increasingly over time, fewer and fewer real human beings, and less and less human intelligence

https://nullpaste.org/

https://dpaste.com/public/

https://justpaste.app/

most of the pastebins require sign up / payment and pressure the users to provide lots and lots of personal data, including their cellphone number, and the email service providers are even worse

https://pasteapp.io/

https://pasty.info/

https://pastebox.io/

https://ctxt.io/

https://yaytext.com/

actually there’s so many, and they all read like AI, human trapping click bait websites, it’s like being enticed to enter a building that’s actually a cage

https://pastequest.com/

https://www.pasteview.com/

https://pasted.to/

https://tutpaste.com/

https://pastecode.io/

they actually have the exact same language/programming often times, just like an AI generated website we are typically funneled into these days by default, and they require payment

https://paaster.io/

https://anonpaste.com/

https://pasteplaintext.com/

https://pastethis.to/

https://www.codebin.cc/

https://www.pastesecure.com/

https://paste.tc/ (this one says we can “make money” sharing files)(irony alert)

https://paste.as/ (“write words put them on the internet”)

all these websites are dedicated to users uploading text, but then they secretly have AI/surveillance involved in the background, and want to manipulate users.

(I’m optimistic this situation can improve, but clearly not following the restricted paradigms of AI based communities)

14

And it does that for a reason. Which is exactly that we don’t want to be in the business of storing large text files, reviewing their content for sensitive or malicious info, replying to GDPR and whatever other responsibilities come with that.

Note that paste service is not a file exchange solution, it is a tool, which is used to help people, who talk over IRC/Matrix, to have synchronous communication around text snippets, which are larger than it is comfortable for the chat interface to show.

On Discourse you don’t need to use paste service, because such text snippets should be shown inline in the forum post.

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So, to conclude, the generic service to exchange large text files might be useful and worth setting up (with understanding of all associated costs), but it is not in scope of the Fedora Project, and it is not in scope of what Fedora Discourse instance is supposed to be used for.

15

Is the reason for pressuring users to ‘put their text into a post but not an attachment’ to support the AI integration @discussion.fedoraproject.org?

sometimes we need text attachments, text files are central to Bnu/Linux, and the literally subject of daily affairs for developers and users alike

most of the time files have specific names, that are helpful to others to upload

so if I was helping a user fix their computer on the forum, something I would typically do, and they needed the /etc/default/grub file

It would be nice to just be able to upload it like grub.txt
keeping the file name, appendning the extension to fit the forums basic requirements for attachments

just an example

anyways… I have to get back to modifying my text files

16

I think the useful distinction here is between a small text snippet and an actual text file.

For something like a short error log, inline code or a collapsible block works well. But for files such as grub.txt, configuration files, long logs, or generated reports, keeping the original filename and attaching the file would be much easier than asking someone to copy and paste hundreds or thousands of lines.

Maybe the compromise would be to allow .txt attachments with a reasonable size limit, for example 1–5 MB. That would avoid turning the forum into a general file-hosting service while still making it practical for troubleshooting. The forum could also display a warning that sensitive information should be removed before uploading.

That seems to address the storage/moderation concern without losing the usefulness of having the actual text file available to other users