Yes, Virginia, autopoke works again

Still working on the final touches:

Right now, this only works on the pokes app page, as suggested by Lord_Fandomar.

What's left is for me clean up the code and obfuscate parts of the code.  I also plan to make this work on the main page, but it's not a high priority.

Survey Results: 70% prefer closed source

Its not too late to voice your thoughts on closing the source.  I've finally had a chance to review the results and out of about 200 people who took the survey, 70% would prefer that I close the code.

I've been wrestling with this issue for a while and still have not come to a decision.  Here's what hangs in the balance:

• Since the Autopoke scripts inception, it has been 100% open-source, using the GPL 2 and 3 licenses.  The latest version of the script (4.0.1) exclusively uses GPL 3.
• Closing the source would mean that other developers could not learn from the work.  This includes both legitimate programmers who are porting the script to Google Chrome to Facebook programmers who may be trying to stop scripts like this from working.
• Closing the source would not mean it's 100% secure against viewing.  Real developers can parse through obfuscated code.  It's harder, but not impossible.  (In fact, I go through Facebook's obfuscated code to create this script.)
• Obfuscated code would be hosted remotely, making it less secure.  In order to properly shield the code from viewing, the code would be hosted on my personal site.  This comes with risks such as me having the ability to know who you are.  I would draft a very simple privacy policy (basically that I don't care who you are).  But doing this would allow me to block facebook.com from connecting to the site.

Despite the large number of people who would prefer that I close the code, I still lean toward an open-source solution.  I'm a firm believer that open-source is better since it allows everyone to learn and don't think that the benefits outweigh the problems.

I am still developing the Autopoke for the new version of the Facebook news feed.  PLEASE be patient.  I have a full-time job and I do other things besides computers.  This time of year is very busy for me.

Getting tired of the edit wars? Autopoke is being considered for closed source

Facebook may be changing their poke code in response to this script.  While unconfirmed, it seems each iteration makes autopoking harder and harder.  To thwart their efforts, I am considering closing the source and obfuscating the code.  What do you think?

If you don't see the survey above, you may need to enable surveymonkey.com within your NoScript. Or you can simply take the survey on their website.

Yup, the new facebook broke the autopoke

For those of you that just finished cursing the developers of Facebook for fixing something that wasn't broken, you will soon realize that the new design broke the autopoke.

No worries.  Development has continued.  Hoping to have a fix by the end of the month.

Thanks to Jesse for taking action!

Thanks to Jesse for taking down the offending scripts!

All but one remain so for me the battle has been won.  The author has the right to counter the take-down notice.  He would have to prove that he did not violate the license, which will be difficult since I have screenshots and a diff showing otherwise.

Development on the Facebook Autopoke will continue this week.  I'm hoping to release version 4.1 that will:

• Correct the reload issue
• Constantly monitor Facebook for pokes and automatically re-poke them
• Allow users to take their poke wars with them
• Easier integration with Chrome (Please note "easier".  I'm still not developing for Chrome.  Just making it easier for others if you want to modify my script)
• Fix security problems

To be clear: do not be afraid to modify my code.  The problem I had with Tony White was that he just copied the code and called it his own.  Improvements upon my code are HIGHLY ENCOURAGED and do not require permission.  Attribution is always appreciated.  You should note that I still give props to the original creator of the autopoke script, even though my implementation no longer looks anything like his.  (He doesn't work on his poke script anymore.)

Will be patching the innerHTML bug for most popular scripts

I've recently learned that there is a security vulnerability with using the innerHTML method within JavaScript.  I'm still researching this issue.

I'll be releasing patches for the most popular of my scripts sometime by the end of the month.

Fighting GPL violators

Being a strong believer in open-source, it gives me no pleasure to find people who violate open source licenses.  Abiding by these licenses are fairly easy and I take a very liberal view of the rights that they protect.

Back in June, I discovered several userscripts that were copies of my Facebook Autopoke script.  While I normally wouldn't have a problem with this, the fact that this user simply copied the script and just pasted his name on it made me pretty angry.  It's one thing to use my script as a bases of a better script.  Even if it's part of a larger work.  But copying the script and just slapping your name on it not only violates the GPL legally, it violates it spiritually.

The GPL was created to foster sharing of thoughts and ideas without fear of stepping on someone's toes.  What this user did was took my hard word and claimed it as his own.

Now, I contacted the Tony White back in May and never received a reply.  So, I contacted Userscripts.org and informed them that I had revoked his license, persuant to section 8 of the GPL. The script is still up today.


So until I have this resolved, all work on the autopoke script will cease.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here in the comments.