Should Sigil plugins be trying to connect remotely?

[Nando Sandiego]

I got the following warning from Little Snitch on OS X 11.12. It occurred after launching the SmartenPunctuation plugin.

==========
Sigil via Python

wants to connect to gist.githubusercontent.com on TCP port 443 (https)

IP Address 151.101.24.133
Reverse DNS Name No Reverse Name
Established by /private/var/folders/07/g6vclvb95_n_xk57230_rplw0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/EA409584-1824-47AC-BDEC-0ED1454834A0/d/Sigil.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/Resources/Python.app/Contents/MacOS/Python
Process ID 23459


User _______ (UID: 501)
Parent Application /private/var/folders/07/g6vclvb95_n_xk57230_rplw0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/EA409584-1824-47AC-BDEC-0ED1454834A0/d/Sigil.app/Contents/MacOS/Sigil
Process ID 15643
==========

http://151.101.24.133/ is a GitHub page site. Should Sigil try connecting remotely when launching a plugin?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Nando Sandiego

I got the following warning from Little Snitch on OS X 11.12. It occurred after launching the SmartenPunctuation plugin.

==========
Sigil via Python

wants to connect to gist.githubusercontent.com on TCP port 443 (https)

IP Address 151.101.24.133
Reverse DNS Name No Reverse Name
Established by /private/var/folders/07/g6vclvb95_n_xk57230_rplw0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/EA409584-1824-47AC-BDEC-0ED1454834A0/d/Sigil.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/Resources/Python.app/Contents/MacOS/Python
Process ID 23459


User _______ (UID: 501)
Parent Application /private/var/folders/07/g6vclvb95_n_xk57230_rplw0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/EA409584-1824-47AC-BDEC-0ED1454834A0/d/Sigil.app/Contents/MacOS/Sigil
Process ID 15643
==========

http://151.101.24.133/ is a GitHub page site. Should Sigil try connecting remotely when launching a plugin?

Depends entirely on the plugin and the plugin developer. In the case of my SmartenPunctuation plugin, yes, it absolutely connects to github to determine if there's a new version of the plugin available. That it does so, is well documented in the plugin's support thread (with instructions to disable the check if you wish). The majority of my plugins notify users of new versions in this manner. It's no diabolical plot you've uncovered. I've been up front about it from the beginning. Also note that it only connects if it's been more than 12 hours since the last update check. It doesn't do so every time the plugin runs.

EDIT: my bad. this plugin doesn't have the ability to disable the check advertised (not sure if it can be). I've tried to incorporate the same update checking methods in all of my plugins, but there may be a few lagging behind in this.

[Nando Sandiego]

Okay, so typical of every Sigil plugin then.

As long as the connections are going through github and similar and originate from the Sigil Plugin in page that all is well.

Thanks