#27438 [Asn]: browscap.ini causes error

ID: 27438 User updated by: php_bug_27438 at garykeith dot com Reported By: php_bug_27438 at garykeith dot com Status: Assigned Bug Type: Documentation problem Operating System: All PHP Version: Irrelevant Assigned To: kennyt New Comment: There are more problems than just replacing an exclamation point. There's also the issue of ampersands and pound signs in browser names and pound signs in version numbers. These will all cause get_browser() to return bogus information and yet according to the MS spec for browscap.ini these are all valid characters. How do you expect to get any cooperation from me when you end your message with "happy flaming!"? This nlopess character barges in on my attempt to get a link removed and essentially, once again, tries to blame the whole situation on me. Then Derick comes along and calls me an ass. My attempts to post a note in the documentation section urging your users not to use my file keep getting deleted. These are small examples of what I've gotten in exchange with my cooperation with PHP. And now I'm the flamer? We all have our breaking point. I've reached mine. I will continue to redirect that link back to your own website. Be glad I am ethical enough not to redirect your users to some gross adult website. Make sure you note the new restrictions in my Terms of Service. Please govern yourselves accordingly. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2004-02-29 21:29:00] kennyt@php.net Uh, that is, of course, if you're willing to let us link with this added information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2004-02-29 21:21:14] kennyt@php.net We could create a new manual page detailing the process of stripping characters PHP can't handle ('!'). Replace the (2?) links to the site with links to that page, which would contain the site's URL beneath a warning. Since that Yahoo! entry is the only bug-provoking one, even users would find it easy to clean up the file. Happy flaming! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2004-02-29 20:36:17] php_bug_27438 at garykeith dot com I sent you an e-mail. As with every other PHP team member I've tried to contact I've had no reply as yet. You need not worry about the link I asked be removed. If I detect an HTTP_REFERER from php.net I simply redirect the user agent back from whence it came. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2004-02-29 15:23:46] derick@php.net It's a known fact that users are impolite, we have lots of experience with that and it's not something neither you or we can "fix". But it is possible to just ignore them, and that's simply what we do. Now, as your file does not crash the system (it just gives a warning when starting the webserver) we will get more bugreports about it, which is a *good* thing for us as it might pressure fixes in our way of handling the browscap.ini file. We can not remove the link to your site, unless there is an alternative browscap.ini file as we don't want to stop the get_browser() function from being implemented in PHP. So I want to suggest that you remove the wrong information on your site (ie, it does not crash, and *we* were not impolite to you and just tried to find a solution) and I'm sure that our fixes for handling the browscap.ini file are being implemented shortly (as there is already a patch). (And please don't reopen this bug report, as we will just bogus it again) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2004-02-29 15:07:42] php_bug_27438 at garykeith dot com I have always asked people who report PHP bugs to file a bug report with PHP. I cannot make them do so. But the simple fact is I've had to make constant adjustments to my browscap.ini file to accommodate PHP over the years and PHP users especially have not been very polite about it. I am a very patient person and it took me this long to finally loose my patience. I attempted to contact the person who first contacted me asking permission to use my file and got no reply. If I couldn't get any reply privately then I had no choice but to go public where the situation could not be avoided. What I'm asking is not unreasonable. All I want is to have the link removed from your documentation page otherwise PHP users are going to download a file that as of today in 4.3.x is guaranteed to crash your server. That does neither one of us any good. So just remove the link and you'll never hear from me again. I promise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The remainder of the comments for this report are too long. To view the rest of the comments, please view the bug report online at http://bugs.php.net/27438 -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=27438&edit=1