PUBLIC-INBOX.CGI(1)

📦
version 2.0.0~20230714git590023f · 6 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 public-inbox.cgi — the public-inbox user manual era 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, because this one is lowkey a warning label disguised as a manpage 💅

✨ NAME ✨

public-inbox.cgi — a CGI wrapper for PublicInbox::WWW

like... it wraps. that's the whole job. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

You generally want to run public-inbox-netd or public-inbox-httpd,
instead

no fr, that's not me being shady, that's literally the synopsis. the manpage itself is like "bestie... run the other ones." iconic honestly. 👑

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so public-inbox.cgi is a CGI interface wrapper sitting on top of the PSGI/Plack PublicInbox::WWW module. that's its whole thing. 🌈

and here's the tea: it's only provided for compatibility reasons and it is NOT recommended. capital letters, all caps, they meant it. 🚨

why tho? two reasons, both very real:

  • CGI with Perl is slow — that code loading overhead is not it, it's giving dial-up energy 😭
  • web servers lack the scheduling fairness of public-inbox-netd(1) and public-inbox-httpd(1) when it comes to handling git clones and streaming large mbox downloads

so like... git clones and big mbox streams will simply not get the fair treatment they deserve. the other daemons handle that scheduling stuff properly. this one does not. 💀

⚠️ COMPATIBILITY NOTE ⚠️

if you're running the CGI with Apache, make sure you set AllowEncodedSlashes to On, because public-inbox makes heavy use of encoded slashes. like heavy heavy. not a drill. 🔥

bestie if you skip this step the slashes will not be allowed and the vibe check will fail. turn it On. periodt. 💅

📬 CONTACT 📬

feedback is welcome, and yes, plain-text mail specifically, sent to <mailto:meta@public-inbox.org> ✉️

the mail archives live at:

Copyright all contributors <mailto:meta@public-inbox.org>

License: AGPL-3.0+ <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt>

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

okay that's the whole page bestie, you're officially informed 🫶 go run public-inbox-netd or public-inbox-httpd instead, the manpage said it, not me 😌✨

this has been PUBLIC-INBOX.CGI(1) from the public-inbox user manual, source public-inbox.git, dated 1993-10-02 — love u, bye 💖🌸

📦 where this page comes from