Discussion:
[savannah-help-public] Can't recover password
LRN
2014-03-08 14:38:32 UTC
Permalink
I've have a Savannah account which i haven't used in a while. I
couldn't log in, so i've tried to do password recovery, but it didn't
work. I've tried to register a new account, but the site told me that
my user name is already taken.

Logging in with "lrn" account:
Account deleted

Registering a new account with the name "lrn":
That username already exists.

Recovering password for "lrn":
Invalid User: This account does not exist or has not been activated

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Bob Proulx
2014-03-09 02:53:31 UTC
Permalink
Hello LRN,
Post by LRN
I've have a Savannah account which i haven't used in a while. I
couldn't log in, so i've tried to do password recovery, but it didn't
work. I've tried to register a new account, but the site told me that
my user name is already taken.
Account deleted
That username already exists.
Invalid User: This account does not exist or has not been activated
The account was in the suspended state. It was not a member of any
group. Additionally it had a suspended state email address and name.
I don't know the history of why that account was suspended. But it
was actively disabled and suspended. Identifying information was
actively blanked out.

There are a number of bug reports associated with this user account.
Thanks for submitting those reports. Good stuff.

Identity theft being what it is we are obligated to be careful. The
problem is how can we know that you are you? I think you understand
the problem. I would hate to be the instrument that sullied the
reputation of the previous lrn user if I were to inadvertently allow
another to take the account over. I don't have a pre-compiled script
for dealing with this problem. If you want to suggest something and
it is acceptable that might be fine. I am all ears.

The easiest thing and safest would be for us to rename the existing
account and allow you to register it again. It would have a different
uid and therefore would be dissociated from the previous account. I
see no problem with that action since the previous was actively wiped.

What action would you like me to take? Rename so you can register it
again?

Bob

Savannah documentation references:

https://savannah.gnu.org/maintenance/RenamingAccounts/

https://savannah.gnu.org/maintenance/ManuallyChangeE-mail/
LRN
2014-03-09 05:23:04 UTC
Permalink
Post by Bob Proulx
Post by LRN
I've have a Savannah account which i haven't used in a while. I
couldn't log in, so i've tried to do password recovery, but it
didn't work. I've tried to register a new account, but the site
told me that my user name is already taken.
Logging in with "lrn" account: Account deleted
Registering a new account with the name "lrn": That username
already exists.
Recovering password for "lrn": Invalid User: This account does
not exist or has not been activated
The account was in the suspended state. It was not a member of
any group. Additionally it had a suspended state email address and
name. I don't know the history of why that account was suspended.
But it was actively disabled and suspended. Identifying
information was actively blanked out.
There are a number of bug reports associated with this user
account. Thanks for submitting those reports. Good stuff.
Identity theft being what it is we are obligated to be careful.
The problem is how can we know that you are you? I think you
understand the problem. I would hate to be the instrument that
sullied the reputation of the previous lrn user if I were to
inadvertently allow another to take the account over. I don't have
a pre-compiled script for dealing with this problem. If you want
to suggest something and it is acceptable that might be fine. I am
all ears.
Well, it's kind of flimsy, but you can ask Rocky Bernstein (user
"rocky" on e-mail server "gnu.org") about a mail he sent me, with the
subject "libcdio bug #26808 - was that emailed directly or did
savannah do the email.", about the bug 26808 [1]. That'll confirm the
tie between this e-mail address and my savannah account (though you
probably don't need that confirmation, and it doesn't prove anything).
That's the earliest email mentioning savannah that i can find in my
mail archive.

Sadly, i wasn't using OpenPGP back then, in 2009, so there's no way to
confirm my identity from 2009. I did start to use it somewhere in
2012, but i've always used savannah bug tracker via web interface, and
so there is no intersection between my signed emails and bug comments
on savannah.

You can look up libcdio-devel threads [2] where i was using OpenPGP to
sign my emails, and check the signature on these emails and on this
one against my public key (attached), to confirm that lrn who emailed
to libcdio-devel in late 2012 and lrn who emails you now are one and
the same, and still using the same address.

If that doesn't convince you, i can always register under a new name,
or you can rename the old account and let me register under the old
name. I don't care if account id won't be matching - i rarely use
savannah, and i can't think of a reason why this would be required (to
close my bugs maybe? someone else can do that).

Savannah never identified me by anything other than my email (AFAIR),
and email messages are easy to snoop, so really, there's not much i
can do about verification. A control question would have been better
(difficult to intercept, if it's sent over TLS, and i usually make up
tricky ones that can't be answered by googling up info about me), was
there one on my savannah account?

[1] http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?26808
[2] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libcdio-devel/2012-09/msg00002.html



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Bob Proulx
2014-03-09 21:01:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by LRN
That's the earliest email mentioning savannah that i can find in my
mail archive.
Ah! I searched the archives and found several references from prior
to the account wipe that links your current address to that user. All
that is needed is one of the support tickets that also went to a
mailing list archive. Savannah's bug tickets don't save this
information but the mailing list archives do. I could then look in
the mailing list archive to see where the email went too.

I found several but one in gnutls-devel from 2010 is sufficient to
link the accounts. Savannah thought that was your address at that
time and we trust Savannah and so can stop there.

I have activated your account and reset the email address. You should
be able to operate the password recovery function now and set a new
password.

I hope you understand why I was trying to take appropriate care.
Thank you for your patience. Let us know if you have any problems.

Bob
l***@gmail.com
2018-03-08 22:13:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by Bob Proulx
Post by LRN
That's the earliest email mentioning savannah that i can find in my
mail archive.
I have activated your account and reset the email address. You should
be able to operate the password recovery function now and set a new
password.
I hope you understand why I was trying to take appropriate care.
Thank you for your patience. Let us know if you have any problems.
I'm going to take you up on that offer, since my account (id 74148) got
deleted. Again. And i would like to have an account to file a bug for gettext
(though at this point i'm more interested in discussing the problem, i don't
have a patch for this issue that would be unconditionally accepted; so maybe
gettext mailing list would be better).

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