"My car has a failure" in my #inbox

https://daniel.haxx.se/email/2025-06-24.html

@bagder I'm dying to know
- what the problem was
- how did this person end up emailing you (are gasoline sensors queried with curl in Opel Astra??)

@bagder well at least he's nice. 😅

@buherator I believe said person had a problem and while desperately trying to find someone to contact, they find my email address in a screen on their infotainment system. A screen listing the curl license (among many others).

@bagder

have you tried to reboot the whole system while hold horn+windscreen wipers?

Your personal IT guy.

@bagder Sounds plausible, although that sounds like lots of work to dig up an unrelated e-mail address :)

@buherator yes but A) they don't get that it is unrelated B) I can't figure out any other explanation.

I mean, I do get these emails every now and then so this is also far from the first time.

@bagder I first discovered your blog through the „I have Toyota Corolla“ post and just noticed you’re actually keeping an email archive. This is the most enjoyable thing I’ve seen today and I’d like to thank you for it 😅

@kimar it's my service to society 😁

@bagder has there even been one of those misdirected emails thay asked about an issue you happened to know how to solve, even though it was not curl-related?

@wolf480pl I can't recall any such, no ☹️

@bagder
So that qualify in the "hardware on what curl can run" list right?

@Seb_Solon @bagder lots of head units run Android nowadays, so it's reasonable for curl or libcurl to be in there too.

@draeath @Seb_Solon its in many more cars too, not only the Android ones. A few years ago, curl was used in some 22 well-known car brands. Virtually every car made in the last few years run curl.

@bagder in his defense, the car probably /is/ running curl somewhere

@bagder 😱🤣

@bagder My brother-in-law knows someone who can fix it. And he is in Trinidad right now as that is where my wife’s family are. From reading the email I’m guessing he is from Venezuela - loads of people escaping from Maduro.

@bagder I don't get it. What is the joke here? Explain it to me like I'm stupid

@superviviansunshine the car probably has the cURL license in the mediaplayer or elsewhere, which contains @bagder 's e-mail address, so he gets these random car support requests from time to time. Several more in his blog

@peturdainn @superviviansunshine yeah, a slightly longer version of the same explanation is here: https://daniel.haxx.se/my-name-in-products.html

@bagder Free as in you will never be freed from the life you've chosen.

@bagder my wife says the we (programmers) are the root of all bad things 😉
So I usually just respond, ”yes, have you tried to turn it off & on again”?

@bagder

Here's the usual solution:
Remove everything from the back of the car and then...
... reboot.