[Jafo232]

Originally Posted by magnus

One plugin location vs two.. heh.


Correct, because if you use any other hacks that toy with vB's internal URL parsing routines it will most likely break this hack.

That is why hacks that do not muck with the internal routines are better as opposed to the one you proposed.

Originally Posted by magnus

This is true, however, because it's by design. From an Admin's perspective, this mod is a great SEO tool. It's mostly for the admin, not necessarily the users.

Well, from my prospective, it is better to worry about the users experience first, not a search engines. The ability to craft a URL without it being mucked by a hack is a requirement for many sites, especially those dealing with code. Your proposed hack limits a users experience.

Originally Posted by magnus

Well, just to name one.. DreamHost. fopen() is generally considered a security risk on shared hosting servers.

You'd be hard pressed to find a shared hosting provider that doesn't have cURL available. And those not using shared hosting can simply install it themselves. But I digress..

It isn't hard at all. Look how many hacks that require cURL have questions about error messages regarding unfound functions that are part of cURL. There are numerous. If it wasn't a problem, then I fail to see why you mention it in your hack.

Originally Posted by magnus

Well, the first problem here is that someone is trying to download Fedora.. when obviously they should be downloading a superior distribution such as Debian . That being said, there's a nifty (.. and configurable!) timeout option. By default, if a page takes longer than 5 seconds to return a title then the process is aborted and the default URL is used.

The timeout option does NOT stop the download. It is a timeout for a non-response. Please, let us keep it factual.

Originally Posted by magnus

So.. I can hijack a shoutbox and cripple a server by spamming a bunch of links to 10GB ISO's and waiting for it to parse 1000 lines each time I paste it? However way this hack is implemented, by nature it's going to create additional load on the server. Why would you want to add an additional load to something that already puts a ridiculous strain on a server (re: Shoutbox)?

You mean like search bombing or a million other techniques you can use to DDOS a server? At least what you are speaking of is an intentional act. Posting a link to a large file is common in a forum with no malicious intent. YOUR plugin however makes it seem that way.

Originally Posted by magnus

If you're going to provide a link in the OP to compare the differences, the least you could do is make sure the statements are factual.

Is it the fact that your lack of understanding of the overall concept that bothers you or that this plugin already has more than half the amount of installs yours has, yet it only took less than 24 hours for a superior hack to do it?