Clash, a tool to break China's Great Fire Wall, is Deleted in GitHub (opens in new tab)

(github.com)

78 pointsbasic_banana2y ago23 comments

23 comments

This is not uncommon. I know of many other repositories serving a similar purpose that disappears from GitHub. Author probably got caught (e.g. leaking their email in a git commit). Many Chinese people have QQ email addresses which are linked directly to their real identity.

wingtw2y ago

https://github.com/Ieooo/clash

FugeDaws2y ago

wouldnt surprise me if github got a scary letter from the CCP and played it safe

richbell2y ago

Or the author.

sonicanatidae2y ago

This is my guess. Most individuals are easier to push, with less drama.

throwaway11032y ago

afaik, Fndroid, the author of Clash For Windows, the most popular distribution of Clash, was warned by the CCP in some kind of way.

On the other hand, Dreamacro, the author of Clash itself, wanted to play safe due to an increased risk of being detained in mainland China.

throwaway11032y ago

being one of the developers of the Clash core (https://github.com/Dreamacro/clash) and its closed-source (free of charge) premium version (clash-premium), i'm really heartbroken seeing this - everything is tearing down.

even without the context of being in China or Iran, Clash is still an awesome piece of software that can be used everywhere, with proper understanding of computer networking.

i ain't sure if both Dreamacro and Fndroid are physically safe now, but i'm sure they are both physically in mainland China.

here's one thread on github of this entire event: https://github.com/net4people/bbs/issues/303

plebecus2y ago

This GUI for Clash by another author was also "removed" and archived (it seems the "main" branch is still there if you browse branches) https://github.com/zzzgydi/clash-verge

Doe-_2y ago

So has another adjacent project by yet another author, using the same technique: https://github.com/MetaCubeX/Clash.Meta

Which would suggest it's not anodin.

0dayz2y ago

Is there any evidence that its foul play?

Could potentially be that the author got burnt out after all.

prepend2y ago

It’s really unusual for an author to delete their repo. Especially without a blogpost or something.

Doe-_2y ago

Or for two other adjacent projects to also do the same, on the same day.

https://github.com/MetaCubeX/Clash.Meta https://github.com/zzzgydi/clash-verge

1 more reply

nicognaw2y ago

As learned by the community, they leaked their personal information from emails used in git commits

Namidairo2y ago

From what I can see, this tool also had it's docs hosted on GitHub Pages, but I don't seem to see any evidence of it existing in the repository.

Did the author force-push to delete the documentation too?

throwaway11032y ago

It was deployed with GitHub Actions, you can check that in .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml

tellarin2y ago

https://github.com/fossabot/clash ?

waterplayer2y ago

He's been inactive since long, so he would face no problem at all.

Moldoteck2y ago

Ppl should maintain forks in other platforms, like bitbucket or even the eu repository launched few years ago

waterplayer2y ago

It's the people.

They won't face any jailtime (this is for sure), but they might get controlled (e.g. more surveillance, limited internet, cannot buy new devices, rigorous checking of their bank account, etc.).

mandeepj2y ago

it can still be retrieved.....once on internet, archived (almost) forever.

dingi2y ago

I hope this was not due to MS kissing CCPs butt.

waterplayer2y ago

In this case, it's much better because they can just move to bitbucket or so.

fyi, github has been blocked in China since 2020 (at least partially blocked).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

23 comments

_ncyj2y ago

wingtw2y ago

https://github.com/Ieooo/clash

FugeDaws2y ago

wouldnt surprise me if github got a scary letter from the CCP and played it safe

richbell2y ago

Or the author.

sonicanatidae2y ago

This is my guess. Most individuals are easier to push, with less drama.

throwaway11032y ago

afaik, Fndroid, the author of Clash For Windows, the most popular distribution of Clash, was warned by the CCP in some kind of way.

On the other hand, Dreamacro, the author of Clash itself, wanted to play safe due to an increased risk of being detained in mainland China.

throwaway11032y ago

even without the context of being in China or Iran, Clash is still an awesome piece of software that can be used everywhere, with proper understanding of computer networking.

i ain't sure if both Dreamacro and Fndroid are physically safe now, but i'm sure they are both physically in mainland China.

here's one thread on github of this entire event: https://github.com/net4people/bbs/issues/303

plebecus2y ago

This GUI for Clash by another author was also "removed" and archived (it seems the "main" branch is still there if you browse branches) https://github.com/zzzgydi/clash-verge

Doe-_2y ago

So has another adjacent project by yet another author, using the same technique: https://github.com/MetaCubeX/Clash.Meta

Which would suggest it's not anodin.

0dayz2y ago

Is there any evidence that its foul play?

Could potentially be that the author got burnt out after all.

prepend2y ago

It’s really unusual for an author to delete their repo. Especially without a blogpost or something.

Doe-_2y ago

Or for two other adjacent projects to also do the same, on the same day.

https://github.com/MetaCubeX/Clash.Meta https://github.com/zzzgydi/clash-verge

1 more reply

nicognaw2y ago

As learned by the community, they leaked their personal information from emails used in git commits

Namidairo2y ago

From what I can see, this tool also had it's docs hosted on GitHub Pages, but I don't seem to see any evidence of it existing in the repository.

Did the author force-push to delete the documentation too?

throwaway11032y ago

It was deployed with GitHub Actions, you can check that in .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml

tellarin2y ago

https://github.com/fossabot/clash ?

waterplayer2y ago

He's been inactive since long, so he would face no problem at all.

Moldoteck2y ago

Ppl should maintain forks in other platforms, like bitbucket or even the eu repository launched few years ago

waterplayer2y ago

It's the people.

They won't face any jailtime (this is for sure), but they might get controlled (e.g. more surveillance, limited internet, cannot buy new devices, rigorous checking of their bank account, etc.).

mandeepj2y ago

it can still be retrieved.....once on internet, archived (almost) forever.

dingi2y ago

I hope this was not due to MS kissing CCPs butt.

waterplayer2y ago

In this case, it's much better because they can just move to bitbucket or so.

fyi, github has been blocked in China since 2020 (at least partially blocked).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse