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A large-scale, automated typosquatting attack saw 200+ malicious packages flood the npm code repository, targeting popular Azure scopes.
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Posts tagged "developers"
Developers really aren’t loving GitHub’s new algorithmic For You feed
Change is always difficult – big and small – especially when it's forced upon you by a giant corporation. That's what some developers on GitHub are finding out, at least, after the company introduced a personalised For You feed.
As spotted by The Register, the For You algorithm-based feed hasn't gone down particularly well. The top-voted post from the past few days, with 211 upvotes, simply states: “I don't want algorithmic feed” before listing some reasons.
The sentiment is echoed elsewhere. All but the third most upvoted post criticised the new For You feed.
All change
“I don't think Github needs facebook/instagram like features,” wrote one user. “I personally don't care about what people like/fork, and i don't want people to know what i do either, i just need a better search and better tagging system so i can search for libraries/projects based on MY SEARCH and MY INTERESTS, not based on a biased one developed with AI. what's next? stories?”
“Please don't turn GitHub into Facebook,” writes another. “Please give me an option to completely disable the algorithmic feed and only have the relevant, chronological feed, only from users I follow and repos I participate in.”
It's not all bad, though. A post with 64 upvotes praises the For You feed, writing, “I Love the new idea of for you, good luck.”
READ MORE
Analysis: Give it some time?
Over time, people often become accustomed to change.
Back in 2006, Facebook introduced News Feed to its users, opening them up to increased sharing of their activities. Users revolted against the change, leading to a direct apology from Mark Zuckerberg.
People came to accept it and the rest, as they say, is history.
The same will likely be the case for GitHub: the resource is so useful that most developers have few other options and changes like this, even with large pushback from its user base, are probably here to stay.
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Developers really aren’t loving GitHub’s new algorithmic For You feed
Change is always difficult – big and small – especially when it's forced upon you by a giant corporation. That's what some developers on GitHub are finding out, at least, after the company introduced a personalised For You feed.
As spotted by The Register, the For You algorithm-based feed hasn't gone down particularly well. The top-voted post from the past few days, with 211 upvotes, simply states: “I don't want algorithmic feed” before listing some reasons.
The sentiment is echoed elsewhere. All but the third most upvoted post criticised the new For You feed.
All change
“I don't think Github needs facebook/instagram like features,” wrote one user. “I personally don't care about what people like/fork, and i don't want people to know what i do either, i just need a better search and better tagging system so i can search for libraries/projects based on MY SEARCH and MY INTERESTS, not based on a biased one developed with AI. what's next? stories?”
“Please don't turn GitHub into Facebook,” writes another. “Please give me an option to completely disable the algorithmic feed and only have the relevant, chronological feed, only from users I follow and repos I participate in.”
It's not all bad, though. A post with 64 upvotes praises the For You feed, writing, “I Love the new idea of for you, good luck.”
READ MORE
Analysis: Give it some time?
Over time, people often become accustomed to change.
Back in 2006, Facebook introduced News Feed to its users, opening them up to increased sharing of their activities. Users revolted against the change, leading to a direct apology from Mark Zuckerberg.
People came to accept it and the rest, as they say, is history.
The same will likely be the case for GitHub: the resource is so useful that most developers have few other options and changes like this, even with large pushback from its user base, are probably here to stay.
- We’ve found the best laptops for programming
GitHub wants to help developers spot security issues before they get too serious
In an effort to further secure open source software, GitHub has announced that the GitHub Advisory Database is now open to community contributions.
While the company has its own teams of security researchers that carefully review all changes and help keep security advisories up to date, community members often have additional insights and intelligence on CVEs but lack a place to share this knowledge.
This is why GitHub is publishing the full contents of its Advisory Database to a new public repository to make it easier for the community to leverage this data. At the same time, the company has built a new user interface for security researchers, academics and enthusiasts to make contributions.
All of the data in the GitHub Advisory Database is licensed under a Creative Commons license and has been since the database was first created to ensure that it remains free and usable by the community.
Contributing to a security advisory
In order to provide a community contribution to a security advisory, GitHub users first need to navigate to the advisory they wish to contribute to and submit their research through the “suggest improvements for this vulnerability” workflow. Here they can suggest changes or provide more context on packages, affected versions, impacted ecosystems and more.
The form will then walk users through opening a pull request that details their suggested changes. Once this done, security researchers from the GitHub Security Lab as well as the maintainer of the project who filed the CVE will be able to review the request. Contributors will also get public credit on their GitHub profile once their contribution has been merged.
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In an attempt to further interoperability, advisories in the GitHub Advisory Database repository use the Open Source Vulnerabilities (OSV) format. Software engineer for Google's Open Source Security Team, Oliver Chang provided further details on the OSV format in a blog post, saying:
“In order for vulnerability management in open source to scale, security advisories need to be broadly accessible and easily contributed to by all. OSV provides that capability.”
We'll likely more on this change to the GitHub Advisory Database once security researchers, academics and enthusiasts begin making their own contributions to the company's database.
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Major WordPress update will make amateurs look like master web developers
WordPress.org has announced the release of WordPress 5.9, a new version of the famous CMS that will change the way many people build their websites.
The new iteration of WordPress delivers a series of fundamental changes. Perhaps most notable is the introduction of new themes made entirely of blocks, which give users far broader control over the site experience.
To help users make the most of the changes, WordPress 5.9 comes bundled with a new default theme called Twenty Twenty-Two. The theme is designed to be highly flexible and can be moulded and tweaked from the Site Editor, where users can make global changes to color scheme, font combinations, page templates and more.
Beyond block-based themes, WordPress 5.9 also features new typography tools, layout options and detailing controls (for borders, spacing etc.), which WordPress says will give sites an additional feeling of polish.
WordPress 5.9 update
The new release marks the halfway point of the Gutenberg project, a multi-year initiative that will eventually see the entire WordPress publishing experience reimagined. The overall idea is to streamline the building process such that non-technical users are incentivized to get creative with their sites.
“This release is a major milestone on the journey toward being able to manage all areas of your WordPress site using the same basic block concepts,” said Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director at WordPress.
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“It puts a focus on how people can and should be able to build their space on the web without necessarily requiring that they be a brilliant developer. Because publishing should belong to artists and creators just as much as it belongs to designers and developers.”
WordPress 5.9 is the first build to feature this new set of foundational tools, which will continue to be refined and improved over time with the help of the WordPress community.
To access the new full-site editing facilities, users need to either download WordPress 5.9 directly or update from their site dashboard, then activate Twenty Twenty-Two or another of the block-based themes available.
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Developers want to know from Apple if an iCloud issue will finally be fixed
If you use an Apple device, there’s a good chance that you use iCloud, its service of syncing your content across multiple devices, alongside streaming files and your tasks in certain apps that also use the service.
However, you may have experienced some issues where your content on one device, isn’t showing on another. This has begun to be known as the 503 error – where iCloud syncing isn’t working properly.
This would have been fine for users and developers if this had been an issue for a few days or a week, but it’s seemingly been since last summer that issues relating to iCloud have remained.
It’s now at the point where developers are venting their frustrations as to whether this issue will be resolved for their apps, and for users.
We speak to developers about their 503 experiences
A Twitter thread on January 25 by Becky Handsmeyer, developer of YarnBuddy and Scribblet, wanted to see if there was another way of reporting the issue to Apple. Soon after, other developers replied to her through a thread.
Ok, there’s clearly an issue going on with iCloud sync right now affecting a lot of users across many different apps. What’s the best way to report this? Radar? I haven’t made any changes to my app since October and users have just recently started reporting sync failures.January 24, 2022
We reached out to Handsmeyer to explain the issue further. “My headache with this started with a 2-star review 21 days ago where a user complained of crashes and broken syncing. Since then I’ve gotten 6 more complaints of broken syncing, some through reviews but mostly via email.”
Handsmeyer continued “No amount of troubleshooting seems to help (reinstalling, making sure iCloud Drive is enabled, etc). I’ve seen multiple developers complaining about iCloud issues and 503 errors including James Thomson, Paul Haddad, and the developer of Streaks. One person said they had used a DTS session and Apple acknowledged the issue but have no timeline for a fix.”
Other developers such as GoodNotes recently published an article regarding the issue, due to users experiencing 503 issues. The article mentions “This issue is not apparent to us and we've escalated the case to Apple Technical Support team for investigation. It seems it's happening to other apps as well.”
But there’s no end in sight for a fix as yet, and users are becoming more frustrated that their content is not syncing properly.
James Thomson, the developer of PCalc, explained to us that it looks as though the issue may be related to the latest updates of iOS 15, macOS 12 Monterey, and others.
“I started seeing some iCloud syncing issues with PCalc with the OS betas during the late summer. It was taking several minutes to sync over settings, rather than the usual seconds, and people assumed the syncing wasn’t actually working.” Thomson explains. “That persisted into the releases, and eventually, I turned things off by default because it was causing problems where people were losing some of the changes they were making due to the long delays. Hopefully, it’s something Apple can fix soon, and I can turn it back on again then.”
Analysis: What’s taking so long?
Looking through the Twitter thread of other experiences from developers, you can place the issue back to when Apple’s software updates were heading toward their final release, just before the iPhone 13 series were announced at September’s event.
When major software releases are pushed out, you can assume services that are hidden to users, are also updated, so that they can work with the new features that have been announced and implemented.
But considering that this is four months since the release of iOS 15 and the other software updates, with no context for developers as to what the issue actually is, and when it will be fixed, is bringing unnecessary frustrations to Apple.
We’ve reached out to Apple for comment as to whether the 503 issue is in the process of being fixed.
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Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 is fixing one of the most annoying issues for developers
Microsoft has added several new features to Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 Preview 2 including a brand-new Hot Reload experience.
Apple’s WWDC 2021: what three iPhone, Mac and iPad developers want to see
Interview: We asked three developers their wishes for Apple’s WWDC.
Switch Pro: developers tell us what they want from the rumored Switch upgrade
While it hasn't been officially announced by Nintendo, we've been hearing plenty of rumors that suggest the company will release a third variant of the Switch this year. However, unlike the Switch Lite – which was very much focused on expanding the market at the lower end of the spectrum thanks to its more affordable price – the mooted "Switch Pro" will improve on the base console in new and meaningful ways, offering a more premium experience.
We're sure Switch owners have plenty of hopes and dreams for an upgraded Switch, but what about the people who will create software for this enhanced system? What new features would they like to see which would make their jobs easier, or allow them to take their titles to the next level?
We spoke to a bunch of Nintendo Switch developers to ask them exactly what they'd like to see in the rumored Switch Pro.
More powerful hardware
When it comes to the most requested feature from a development standpoint, "more power" is perhaps the most obvious option.
"I’d love to see a model that has a 1080p screen and the necessary processing power to run Switch docked performance in portable mode," says Thomas Kern of FDG Entertainment, the company responsible for bringing the likes of Oceanhorn and Monster Boy to Nintendo's console.
"It would also be good to see improved hardware to boost framerate just enough to keep existing Switch titles, such as Witcher 3, running at 30fps – or even 60fps – without frame drops. I think technically that’s feasible."
Joel Kinnunen, vice president of Trine studio Frozenbyte, has similar hopes. "Devs always want 'bigger, faster, better', so a beefier CPU and GPU would be nice."
“Devs always want ‘bigger, faster, better’, so a beefier CPU and GPU would be nice.”
Joel Kinnunen – Frozenbyte
Andres Bordeu, founder and game designer at Rock of Ages studio ACE Team, would also see increased power as the biggest benefit of a new Switch console.
“We probably differ from many independent developers since our projects, while still indie in nature, also aim to deliver incredible visuals powered by the latest tech and we invest a lot of time in research and development. In the indie community, we consider ourselves power users of Unreal Engine 4, which is used to build many Switch games, so a more capable GPU is something that definitely enables studios like ours to bring their creations to Nintendo’s platform.”
Philip Barclay of The Messenger developer Sabotage concurs. “As developers and huge fans of the Nintendo Switch console, one of the things that would be great for a 'Pro' version would be to support additional hardware rendering techniques for larger resolutions. If the Pro version ups the GPU, we could start to see even more amazing content in Switch games.”
Omar Cornut, Technical Director of Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap developer Lizardcube, is more cautious and warns against hoping for more powerful hardware. "I have to say I love my Switch and I wouldn't want to change it too much; it's a perfect fit for the games we are making. More powerful hardware is convenient, but it also creates a tendency to drive the average game budget higher in order to be competitive, and this has knock-on effects on developers' ability to experiment.
"That said, technical progress is unstoppable; as a player, I wish for the extra power to allow for more Switch games to hit steadier and higher frame-rates across the entire lifetime of the console. A few more gigabytes of RAM and CPU cores would also facilitate porting of cross-platform projects."
Better screen
The 720p display on the Switch is hardly what you'd call cutting edge, so it should come as no surprise to learn that developers are keen to see that improve as well – although reports that suggest it could come with a 4K panel are frowned upon; Kern doesn't expect to see 4K on the new system himself, saying: "I don’t expect anything 4K, and I personally wouldn’t want 4K on Switch."
Cornut feels that boosting the Switch's resolution could result in an awkward balancing act. "When higher resolutions are available, the tendency is to sacrifice frame-rate. I would much rather have a console where most games are 1080p in stable 60 FPS rather than added support for 4K when docked, which would lead us down the line to more games aiming at 20-30 FPS."
Improved controls
More power under the hood and an improved screen seem to be obvious picks, but some developers want to see other elements of the Switch hardware get the upgrade treatment.
"As the developers of a racing game, we'd be really happy to see support for analogue triggers on the Switch's Joy-Con," says Edwin Smith of Feral Interactive, which ported GRID to the Switch with impressive results.
Cyrille Lagarigue, of Streets of Rage 4 developer Guard Crush Games, would also like to see the control setup expand with the Switch Pro.
"Personally, I'd like Nintendo to take advantage of the ingenious way the Joy-Con slide on the side of the Switch to propose more Joy-Con variants, for bigger hands, or maybe a left Joy-Con with a D-Pad and no joystick for 2D games! Having a Switch Pro would be a great opportunity to add this kind of devices; Pro means more choice!"
Faster internal storage
As we know from the hype surrounding the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the topic of memory speed is going to be a key one in the next-gen war – and Lizardcube's Omar Cornut would love to see some kind of improvement in this area for Switch, too.
"I hope for the internal storage to become a little faster as well as maybe raising the minimum specs of supported SD cards. We have to be considerate of loading data both from internal storage or from a variety of SD – some fast, some slow – and aiming for lowest common denominator can create lots of constraints on game design; for games with large streamed worlds, for example."
Faster RAM would potentially allow for more immersive titles on Switch Pro, which would allow it to maintain some degree of parity with Sony and Microsoft's upcoming systems.
Wireless audio
The topic of wireless audio also cropped up when we spoke to Switch developers, with many citing the lack of Bluetooth audio support as being a real negative to the current console. The console lacks a microphone, too, which means that Switch players are missing out when it comes to online multiplayer.
"I’d like to see an aptX low latency Bluetooth chip implemented that supports Bluetooth headphones," says Kern.
Dotemu's Fabien Borel – who is currently hard at work on Windjammers 2 – couldn't agree more, and adds another wish for the Switch Pro. "I think everybody will appreciate the possibility of support of Bluetooth devices such as headphones – and having some kind of achievement system, without it being mandatory for game companies, which is awkward!"
We'll leave the final word for Jérôme Fait of Young Souls developer 1P2P:
"We would be happy if the new one brings better specs, a sharper and brighter screen and maybe better Joy-Con with an official cross D-pad; a 5G connexion or better WiFi and Netflix, and if it could print money [laughs] – but I think that the Switch is perfect as it is."
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