Leaderboard

Wondering why I created Copyright Pascal Projects and use it on all my repositories to add copyright comments and links to the top of files? Here is one of the many repositories that sums up the answer: https://github.com/prasanna-debug/Bubbleoid-GGJ2025 Automated robots, humans, AI, and spammers are pumping code repositories, replacing copyright notices and README.md files (but not in other languages like LISEZMOI.md for French), remove sponsorship information, and claim third-party project content in order to generate traffic to GitHub (and probably elsewhere) while retaining the reference to the original contributor to give their submission an air of “seriousness.” Their goal? To get developers or users to download their versions of source code or executables... If you use public code repositories, go to the source, don't rely on copies (whether dubious or unmaintained). Make your own fork or clone of the original repository if you have changes to make. Keep the link between repositories to benefit from source updates and share your own. Remain very cautious, on GitHub as elsewhere!

Isn't the root problem where you read these strings in the wrong way and shouldn't it be handled right there?

Great question! On GitHub, it’s true that forks and even unrelated repos can use the same name, which can make it confusing. The official repo is always the one under the account or organization of the original project creator. Here’s some ways to help find it: Check links on the official website or documentation—they’ll point to the real repo. Look for lots of activity, stars, and contributions from known authors. On a fork, you’ll see a “forked from \[original]” notice at the top—click it to go to the original. Avoid repos with suspiciously new accounts or odd releases. When in doubt, always ask here in the group and we can confirm if you’ve got the right one.