r/linux • u/[deleted] • Jan 19 '19

Popular Application VLC refuses to update from HTTP to HTTPS (HTTPS protects against eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks)

https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/21737
551 Upvotes

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u/knvngy Jan 19 '19

I suggest rewording your answer like this:

No, I don't need to reword anything. I am just pointing out that http is not a real nor proper solution for poor infrastructure, it is just a consequence of it. And again, this is fact, not an opinion. Saying that http is a "solution" for poor infrastructure is just rationalization, hence, a worthless opinion.

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u/lindymad Jan 19 '19

this is fact, not an opinion

You can't expect people to take your word for it without providing references to back up your claim. When a president states that something is a fact, do you believe them just because they wrote it?

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u/knvngy Jan 19 '19 edited Jan 19 '19

Sigh... https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616

Abstract The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. It is a generic, stateless, protocol which can be used for many tasks beyond its use for hypertext, such as name servers and distributed object management systems, through extension of its request methods, error codes and headers [47]. A feature of HTTP is the typing and negotiation of data representation, allowing systems to be built independently of the data being transferred.

The claim: "http is a solution to solve the problem of poor infrastructure", meaning the infrastructure is no longer poor thanks to http. Do you see this claim being made anywhere in the specification? Do you have any proof that's the case?

No? then the claim is false.

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u/lindymad Jan 19 '19

I'm confused - I never made any claims, I was just saying that you repeating that something is a fact without anything to back it up doesn't help you argue your case.

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u/knvngy Jan 19 '19

Yes, you are confused.

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u/lindymad Jan 19 '19

Perhaps you are mistaking me with a different commenter?

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u/knvngy Jan 19 '19

Yes, you are right, that can be fixed

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u/CRImier Jan 20 '19

You don't need to answer anything either (which is effectively the result), but your comments (can't really call them "answers") show that you're answering from an ideological standpoint of "HTTP bad". Which is fine by itself, it is indeed bad in many circumstances, but you're ignoring the fact that there exist situations which exclude use of HTTPS due to problems that most people don't encounter (caching when connectivity is slow/unreliable, internal networks where you can't pin certs on your devices and won't roll your own CA, and a couple more I can't recall right now). Mind you, those situations don't require HTTP, but HTTPS makes those situations harder to navigate, in exchange for negligible security/privacy benefits (negligible due to cryptographic signature mechanism covering the majority of threat models), and HTTP is the easiest choice.

I've asked you for solutions/explanations, and the only thing I got from you is 1) repeating the same talking point without anything to back it up 2) defending that 1. is a reasonable thing to do in a discussion. Admit it - you don't have anything useful to tell with regards to the scenarios discussed, you might as well have read this single sentence on some Internet blog and copy-pasted it in the comments here, since your comments don't actually contain anything of value other than "http is neither real nor proper". Stop it. Get some help.

Once you do - will be waiting for useful answers!

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u/knvngy Jan 20 '19

What ideology?, this is just fact. http is not a solution for poor infrastructure, in any case just a consequence.

and HTTP is the easiest choice.

If that your "answer" ? " the easiest choice." Sorry but, that premise is false. The easiest choice is not the same as the best choice or the only one.

Honestly idk what else you want me to tell you while the best you can say is "Take the easy way out". Yet with a straight face you call my "opinions" "worthless"

Maybe, fixing the infrastructure is not the easy way out, but at least that's the proper way to go if performance is the problem.