Who query for opers returns all nicks

[kylef]

When requesting the who list, using the o (oper only) parameter from rfc1459 results in returning all nicks.

C: WHO * o

If the "o" parameter is passed only operators are returned according to the name mask supplied [rfc1459]

[slingamn]

ergo/irc/handlers.go

Lines 3283 to 3288 in c53df2d

	//TODO(dan): is this used and would I put this param in the Modern doc?
	// if not, can we remove it?
	//var operatorOnly bool
	//if len(msg.Params) > 1 && msg.Params[1] == "o" {
	// operatorOnly = true
	//}

We might be trying to deprecate this?

[slingamn]

Consider returning an empty list for this.

[slingamn]

@progval thoughts on returning an empty list here?

[progval]

Why?

[slingamn]

I'm sympathetic to the idea in @DanielOaks's comment that this feature is cruft and should be deprecated. Independently of this, we're trying to move away from a binary distinction between operators and non-operators, instead relying on the capability system (#1176 for some context).

On the other hand, we do still return binary operator/non-operator flags in WHO, WHOIS, and USERHOST.

[progval]

Hmm I don't know. We could use the WHOX token to advertize support for it ircv3/ircv3-specifications#81 (comment)

[emersion]

The "o" flag is quite useful to clients, it's the only standard way to list server operators. The binary flag in the WHO replies is used by gamja to add a "server operator" label when talking to a server op.

[slingamn]

To be clear, Gamja is only reading the * flag in the output, not sending the o parameter that we're discussing here?

I haven't seen a client use case for listing server operators specifically. But in general, if a client would for some reason want to do WHO <target> o, they could just do WHO <target> and look for the * flag. So the o parameter is really just an optimization.

[emersion]

gamja doesn't, but may send WHO * o in the future to provide a UI to display server operators. This is useful to ask for help on a network.

WHO * and then filtering for operators will flood the client with a list of all users.

[slingamn]

Useful how, though? For DM'ing them? In my experience the normal way to do this is via a designated support channel, identified in MOTD or out of band (like on the website).

Flood the client in what sense? It doesn't have to flood the UI. (Typically, WHO will only retrieve "visible" users, i.e., users you share a channel with or who are -i for some reason. So the WHO response list is of manageable size, but also isn't that useful for surfacing arbitrary operators, unless you're already in the support channel --- in which case you can just message the support channel.)

Gamja currently displays "This user is a server operator, they have administrator privileges." in response to the * flag; this may be misleading in the Ergo context, where operators may have very limited privileges. This is not to say that Gamja is doing something wrong, just that enumerating operators in Ergo may not make sense.