Stevertigo wrote:
--- Tim Starling <ts4294967296(a)hotmail.com>
wrote:
I don't see what the problem is. A vandalbot
and a
well-behaved bot are
two different things. The common code is only a
small proportion. As
long as sysops are not shy about blocking clueless,
unapproved bots, I
have no problem with making the code public.
"As long as" does'nt work, because its not a simple
rule --and generally, people are under the impression
(as they should be) that bots run only under the
watchful eye of devers -who might actually know what
the thing is doing.
It can be made into a simple rule. We already have a vague policy that
one should obtain approval before running a bot. We can make it into a
more concrete policy: someone who wants to run a bot should describe in
detail what the bot will do on [[Wikipedia:Bots]]. This should be listed
for at least a week. In the event of debate, there should be a consensus
before the bot is allowed to run. If a bot is run before the one week
listing has elapsed, or when there is no consensus that the bot is a
good idea, a sysop should block it.
Might there be a way to compile the bot into a
configurable (non-disassemble-able, like C, etc )
executable?
Then how will people collaboratively improve the code?
-- Tim Starling.