Re:The Pain That Is GitHub Actions
by hn_throwaway_99 on Thursday March 20, 2025 @11:03AM
(#43424402)
I wholeheartedly agree, and perhaps it was just how I was interpreting the author's statement in the article. If it's saying that the "default" way of using GitHub Actions is dangerous and leads to subtle security footguns, I completely agree. But if you know the proper way to use and secure Actions, saying "everyone else does it a bad way" is irrelevant to your security posture.
"Defaults matter" is a common phrase, but equally true is: "the pattern everyone recommends including example documentation matters".
It is fair to criticise the usage of GH Actions, just like it's fair to criticise common usage patterns of MySQL that eat your data - even if smarter individuals (who learn from deep understanding, or from being burned) can effectively make correct decisions, since the population of users are so affected and have to learn the hard way or be educated.