Merge branch 'jc/ci-skip-unavailable-external-software' into maint-2.49: Protecting Against Bot Scrapers

As you're reading this, it's likely because the administrator of this website has set up a security measure called Anubis to safeguard against the increasing threat of AI-powered bots aggressively scraping websites.

This measure may cause temporary downtime for affected sites, making their resources inaccessible to everyone. But why is this necessary? The problem lies in the growing number of AI companies that rely on automated scripts to scrape websites for data or other purposes. This has become a major concern, as these bots can overwhelm even large-scale websites.

Anubis is an innovative solution aimed at deterring bot scrapers without completely blocking them out. By utilizing a Proof-of-Work scheme similar to Hashcash, Anubis increases the computational load on individual users' devices. At small scales, this additional load may be insignificant. However, when combined with other AI-powered bots, it becomes prohibitively expensive for them to continue scraping.

While this solution provides a temporary fix, its real purpose lies in diverting resources towards more advanced methods of identifying legitimate users – such as analyzing font rendering techniques used by headless browsers – that can be integrated into the challenge proof-of-work page without presenting it to unsuspecting users. These methods are still in development.

For Anubis to function effectively, modern JavaScript features must be enabled on this website. Unfortunately, plugins like JShelter will disable these necessary features, requiring them to be disabled as well. This means that users must have JavaScript enabled to navigate the site without encountering any issues with the challenge proof-of-work page.

It's worth noting that a complete no-JS solution is still in progress and may not fully address the issue of AI-powered bot scrapers. Nevertheless, Anubis offers an essential compromise between security and user accessibility until more comprehensive solutions can be implemented.