No proxying to other hosts when visiting gemini://gemini.circumlunar.space #97

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asdf · 2019-11-24T01:16:26Z

asdf commented

2019-11-24 01:16:26 +00:00

Error message when visiting gemini://gemini.circumlunar.space:

[5] Permanent Failure. No proxying to other hosts!

(just noticed it when checking links on the gopher user guide, haven't done much investigation as I have to go soon, no idea if it's something with Bombadillo or with the other server)

Error message when visiting gemini://gemini.circumlunar.space: [5] Permanent Failure. No proxying to other hosts! (just noticed it when checking links on the gopher user guide, haven't done much investigation as I have to go soon, no idea if it's something with Bombadillo or with the other server)

sloum commented

2019-11-24 05:11:24 +00:00

That is a weird one. That server has been having some issues. I have been in touch with solderpunk to deal with an unrelated issue (re: logging in via sftp to that server) and have brought up this issue as well. It does appear to be an issue with the server (the error message comes from them, not from Bombadillo), but I'll let you know if solderpunk is able to shed any light on the situation.

asdf commented

2019-11-25 01:17:02 +00:00

I checked this about 15 hours ago and it was working then, and is still working now.

Perhaps clarifying the intended meaning of the error message would be useful, but I don't have a direct suggestion as to how this could be done. This is something that you see on the web now, having evolved over many years of effort, and it's still confusing enough that documents like this exist as a supplement.

What are your thoughts?

I checked this about 15 hours ago and it was working then, and is still working now. Perhaps clarifying the intended meaning of the error message would be useful, but I don't have a direct suggestion as to how this could be done. This is something that you see on the web now, having evolved over many years of effort, and it's still confusing enough that documents [like this](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/websites-dont-load-troubleshoot-and-fix-errors) exist as a supplement. What are your thoughts?

sloum commented

2019-11-25 03:32:36 +00:00

I heard from solderpunk and they looked into the issue. Their server uses the Go net/url package. That package does not separate out the port from the host. They were trying to do a comparison to validate the request and did not expect a port to be provided and then included in the host field. solderpunk updated the code to check for a port and split it out. So we should be good to go with that gemini site now.

Since gemini is designed to have the server provide the error messaging specifics (rather than the client, which just passes on the error code, error code meaning, and the message from the server) I do not think there is much to be reliably added by Bombadillo the error beyond the message prefix ([5] Permanent Failure), which is set, more or less, by the gemini spec. This design does open the door for less clear messaging sometimes. The message we received is accurate for what was happening, it was just unclear without emailing the admin why it was happening.

I heard from solderpunk and they looked into the issue. Their server uses the Go `net/url` package. That package does not separate out the port from the host. They were trying to do a comparison to validate the request and did not expect a port to be provided and then included in the host field. solderpunk updated the code to check for a port and split it out. So we should be good to go with that gemini site now. Since gemini is designed to have the server provide the error messaging specifics (rather than the client, which just passes on the error code, error code meaning, and the message from the server) I do not think there is much to be reliably added by Bombadillo the error beyond the message prefix (`[5] Permanent Failure`), which is set, more or less, by the gemini spec. This design does open the door for less clear messaging sometimes. The message we received is accurate for what was happening, it was just unclear without emailing the admin why it was happening.

asdf commented

2019-11-25 11:41:25 +00:00

Thanks for looking in to this situation and letting me know what went on. Glad it is fixed now.

I take your point on this, and reviewed the status codes in the spec again to try to understand this better. It does have a specific suggestion for displaying status codes 4 and 5, but it seems like it would not be useful here either.

The important part for me is the determination from the message that this is a server error and not an issue with Bombadillo. It seems like it's not possible to communicate that?

Thanks for looking in to this situation and letting me know what went on. Glad it is fixed now. I take your point on this, and reviewed the status codes in the spec again to try to understand this better. It does have a specific suggestion for displaying status codes 4 and 5, but it seems like it would not be useful here either. The important part for me is the determination from the message that this is a server error and not an issue with Bombadillo. It seems like it's not possible to communicate that?

sloum commented

2019-11-25 15:32:49 +00:00

Hmm... probably not. In this case it was a server error... but it, in theory, would have been possible for a client to send a request that would get that response. Bombadillo couldnt (it isnt an option for users), but it is in theory possible for a client to allow cross site resource requests. Either would result in an error code 5 situation.

Hmm... probably not. In this case it _was_ a server error... but it, in theory, would have been possible for a client to send a request that would get that response. Bombadillo couldnt (it isnt an option for users), but it is in theory possible for a client to allow cross site resource requests. Either would result in an error code 5 situation.

asdf commented

2019-11-26 01:35:02 +00:00

OK then, let's close this off. Not an issue with Bombadillo, correct process followed by the client for a server issue.

👍 1

asdf closed this issue

2019-11-26 01:35:02 +00:00

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