Merge branch 'ps/refname-avail-check-optim'

As you read this, you're not seeing this message by chance – it's because the administrator of this website has taken steps to protect its server from aggressive AI scrapers that have been flooding its pages. This measure is necessary due to the increasing threat posed by companies leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to scrape websites without permission. The temporary inconvenience of this security measure is a small price to pay for safeguarding the website's resources against these malicious activities.

Anubis, the security solution employed by this website, is a Proof-of-Work scheme inspired by Hashcash, which aims to discourage AI scrapers from exploiting websites without permission. At an individual level, this added load is manageable, but it becomes increasingly costly for large-scale scraper operations, rendering their efforts significantly more difficult and expensive.

While Anubis may seem like a hack or a temporary measure to avoid the hassle of implementing more comprehensive security measures like fingerprinting headless browsers (e.g., by analyzing how they handle font rendering), its real purpose is to enable further research into identifying and mitigating these AI-powered threats. This ongoing effort is crucial as it helps create a better, more secure environment for legitimate website users.

However, there's a catch: Anubis requires the use of modern JavaScript features that some plugins, like JShelter, may disable on this domain. Therefore, users must either disable such plugins or enable JavaScript to bypass this challenge. Unfortunately, as AI companies continue to redefine the terms of social contract around website hosting, the absence of a JS-only solution remains an open issue.

In summary, while experiencing this message might seem frustrating at first, it's essential to recognize that Anubis is a proactive step towards protecting websites against malicious activities. By accepting these temporary limitations, users are contributing to a safer online environment for everyone.