Guest post by Looks as though Facebook has banned the use of kipi-plugins as a way to export photos to the social networking site using KDE applications like digiKam and Gwenview. Adding insult to injury, photos that were previously uploaded using this software have been deleted without warning.
They will come back with an oops statement or a security statement.
Either one will generate negative buzz and a few more people will sign up for facebook.
Apparently, Facebook banned this KIPI plugin because KDE distributes the Facebook API key together with it’s source code… That violates the Facebook policy because others could use that key and pretend to be the KIPI plugin.
This must be a very common issue with open source applications and API keys… I don’t really see a solution for this, except having every user (or maybe every Linux distribution) apply for its own API key.
The distros would still need to supply the source code they used to compile the app, so it wouldn’t change the issue.
The only solution would be to give a key to every user, and for the app to accept the key from a configuration file.
But that’s not going to happen — I can’t see Facebook giving an API key to every user.
If we are to believe the film ‘Social Network,’ where a young Mark Zuckerburg runs KDE 2.x from his dorm and later 3.x towards the end of the film, he might have found his own photos deleted.
Actually KDE4 is “too modern” to be “supported” by Facebook then
Just move on…! There are millions of users that have left Facebook for various reasons… KDE can live without Facebook too.
I have to wonder how Shotwell Connect will be affected by this. So far, they’ve managed to stay active on Facebook and my photos haven’t disappeared either, but it’s probably too soon to tell. I imagine that the kipi-plugins developers would be able to do what the Shotwell Connect developers have done in order to comply with Facebook’s policies if in fact it’s an issue with how kipi-plugins is implemented there.
Edited 2011-06-28 14:55 UTC
Only time will tell. I have many photos that I have uploaded with shotwell connect. It works great and I would hate to see it banned from facebook. I mostly use facebook so family will stop nagging me to email photos of my kids.
I suppose us GNOME users operate more under the radar. Maybe less of a ‘hacker’ (and I say that lightly) reputation than those KDE hoodlums? (Seriously, that’s a joke; put your lighters away)
who uses facebook anyway.
As in one of those stars that burns really hot and bright for a short period of time, and then implodes on itself and produces a spectacular supernova as it destroys itself. Kind of like what MySpace did.
If media reports are to be believed, FaceBook has lost a couple of million users in just the last month or so and has stopped growing as well–possibly because of privacy concerns, and heavy handed stunts like this one.
Are you ignorants really blaming Facebook for this?
Please enlighten us, o wise one, as how it isn’t and how it is ok for them to delete pictures users have already uploaded.
Edited 2011-06-28 16:27 UTC
Are you blaming the kipi project? Who is to blame exactly?
‘Terms of Use’ can only gain so much grace and good will from users before they get pissed off from being trod upon.
If it is an API key problem … google, twitter etc would do the same with any app that doesn’t adhere to their terms of service.
Edited 2011-06-28 18:15 UTC
Yes they would but my point is that the user is who gets screwed here and they did nothing substantively wrong (other than trust that the software is in compliance with any rules that apply).
The user has a right to be upset, especially when given no warning before having content deleted.
Yes the user has a right to be upset … however it isn’t with facebook … it is with the app publisher.
Though actually deleting photos already uploaded is a bit OTT
Edited 2011-06-28 21:48 UTC
Facebook so far missed the one pic I uploaded with kipi. Therefore FB sucks
Looks as though Facebook has restored access to kipi-plugins and returned everyone’s pictures.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/facebook-restores-access…
From what I read, it looks as though the banbot was another cause of the problem. It got happy with the banhammer on a lot of apps including kipi-plugins in an effort to prevent spam that had been on the rise.