I get that some instances use the domain + TLD to make a word, like lemm.ee or to an extent, sh.itjust.works. But I’ve seen so many TLDs I had no idea existed, like .world, .zone, .social, and yes .works as well.
Is there any real reason for that? Trying to look cool or kinda underground-y? Cheaper and more varied domain options? Something actually kinda functional?
Interestingly, I started on vlemmy.net because I was a scared Reddit refugee and the .net TLD gave me comfort. Then it vanished a few days later without a trace. So here I am on lemmy.world
From what I’ve heard, .zip is basically only used for malware
Similarly, I’ve never seen a .xyz that wasn’t used for altchans or sketchy porn sites
sopuli.xyz is a sizeable Lemmy instance
Hurts a little that 4k users is “sizeable”, but I guess we have to start somewhere.
For me, that was .dance and .moe.
And then there’s .ninja which so far has been strictly small web animations.
I really wish Randall Monroe acquired xkcd.xyz tho.
One of the teachers at my faculty has his academic website, including course materials, on an .xyz domain.
ABC.xyz?
Actually, yeah, that basically fits.
Oh, there is a website where somebody created Doom with CSS and that’s a .xyz but that tracks, because it’s 3D
I’m on lemmy.zip, has been swell.
The whole zip malware hype never came to be. Try it out, your Outlook isn’t replacing xyz.zip with a link.
I guess you could manually create a link, but those have never been safe before either as the text can be different from the URL.
I think the complaint is it’s just needlessly confusing and ambiguous.
Like everyone would obviously have an issue with it if they introduced a TLD of .txt or .jpg so why is this acceptable?
It really doesn’t matter in my opinion.
If you get an email and there is a link that just says “myfile.zip”, you wouldn’t click it, right? Email doesn’t support links for attachments, so it would be a web link either way. And behind that link it can be whatever, like “https://malicioussite.com/download/virus”. Actual email attachments have their own spot in your email client.
On top of that, any URL can download a file. If you go to https://fakegoogle.com it doesn’t even have to be .zip or .jpg, the moment you get there I could start a download in your browser.
No it’s not that URL will download a file it’s that a URL can pretend to be a file download.
Then all I need to do is build a website that looks like a word or something, and ask users to fill out their personal address form or something.
It’s about the lowest common denominator, and the public are the very most common denominator. Why make life easier for scammers?
It’s not like there’s a legitimate reason for a .zip domain
Every URL can pretend to be a file download…
I can give you https://mydomain.com/photo.jpg and then deliver you a webpage instead of a .jpg file. The web server decides what you get in return.