At work I was asked by a different team how we can deal with bots, because someone in my team remembered that I knew how to do it.
I reluctantly suggested Anubis because I got shit for it last time, This is the URL https://anubis.techaro.lol/
This is the 2nd and last time I will ever recommend Anubis anywhere at work to deal with bots because of how unprofessional, un-serious and weird others perceive it.
The mascot being a ~10 year old “cutsie” anime cat girl is weird in a work setting.
I will never put myself in a situation again where I have to explain that it’s not weird to anyone again, same for that URL.
What is a professional looking open-source alternative to Anubis?
Edit: No I can’t just send my colleges here https://anubis.techaro.lol/docs/admin/botstopper The issue is they find the Mascot and domain weird, they will still run into both.
My Goal: Recommend a Open-Source bot protection tool
The Issue: When I send my coworkers to https://anubis.techaro.lol/docs/admin/botstopper they find the mascot and URL weird.
Result: They don’t see Anubis as a serious tool and turn away from it
What is a professional looking open-source alternative to Anubis?
I don’t think you understand the problem.
To some people, anubis is weird, there is no changing that. It does the job, the mascot can be changed by paying, but the project itself is weird to some people. Such person is asking, is there an alternative. You cannot just say “push back that is not weird”.
You can, though.
You can, though.
I mean, you can, but this is a variation on the trope of 'FOSS is ugly" that has prevented popular acceptance for decades. The developers absolutely have the right to make their product look however they want, and the furry-lol aesthetic clearly appeals to some people. OP is pointing out that this aesthetic makes it a hard pass in other communities and there’s a market for anubis simply reskinned with a ‘.com’ domain and geometric icon.
If anubis used a swastika instead of a catgirl, would you be so accepting?
It’s a harmless way to try and get some money from corporations for unbranded versions. A swastika would not be so harmless. What a batshit crazy analogy attempt.
Ridiculous strawman in the last sentence. A pic of a furry anime character is completely innocuous, and the only thing stopping acceptance of the service is intolerance. There really is no need to try to accommodate for the intolerant.
Like others have said, a simple rational response in the line of “yes, it initially shows an inappropriate branding for our purposes, but the nerds who made this like it. This branding does not take away from its suitability as a bot prevention tool, and the branding can be easily changed.”
Ridiculous strawman in the last sentence. A pic of a furry anime character is completely innocuous, and the only thing stopping acceptance of the service is intolerance. There really is no need to try to accommodate for the intolerant.
Like others have said, a simple rational response in the line of “yes, it initially shows an inappropriate branding for our purposes, but the nerds who made this like it. This branding does not take away from its suitability as a bot prevention tool, and the branding can be easily changed.”