Closed plugin not really closed

[rainbowgeek]

Closed plugin on the plugin repository are:

• still able to be downloaded (so linked from other websites than w.org)
• the author can still push updates to the code

I think we should change this.

[dd32]

Hi @rainbowgeek,

This is mostly expected.

still able to be downloaded (so linked from other websites than w.org)

This will be handled via #7217.

It's worth noting that the plugins.svn repository will always remain accessible, even if the .ZIP was disabled.

the author can still push updates to the code

Plugins can be closed for many reasons, the most common reasons are 1) Security issue 2) Guideline violations

In both of those cases, the plugin author needs to be able to commit to the plugin to resolve it, such that the plugin can be re-opened.

There are some cases where plugins are closed and the plugin committers are revoked this is for when we no longer want the plugin author to have access to the plugin for whatever reason. This is a similar request to what you've suggested.

Importantly, a closed plugin does NOT serve updates. We do have a second status (That to everyone looks the same as closed) that's called Disabled, in that mode the plugin cannot be installed on new sites, but sites can update to it. This is fairly commonly used for various purposes.

But back to the question at hand:

Closed plugins can be committed to

I'm not against (And have suggested this prior) that closed plugins should have commit access suspended after being closed for xx months, and that if they wish to regain commit access they should contact the plugins team (who can click the button to restore it).

I feel that this request should come from the plugin reviewers directly however, and that such a request should come with some proper reasoning as to why (rather than just A closed plugin shouldn't be able to commit)

[rainbowgeek]

OK thank you for your answer.
I'm asking this because a copycat of our plugin has been submitted several months ago on the repository, and closed (fortunately) for guideline violation.
But they still use the w.org ZIP link on their site to distribute it.
So I find it quite annoying that w.org is somehow "helping" this author.

[dd32]

Replying to rainbowgeek:

So I find it quite annoying that w.org is somehow "helping" this author.

The plugins team can request further action occur, such as blocking access to files if required or having ZIPs removed, I'll add a comment about this scenario to #7217.

[rainbowgeek]

Perfect!