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Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

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Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#101

Post by izacus »

arthurofcharn wrote: post #64
charcircuit wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux package managers are not trustworthy. That is another case where everyone pretends that it is. Usually packages are created and updated by random people and can be pseudonymous.

Oh crud, you are right. Any idea how to fix this? Perhaps a more curated (and more manageable) list? That would seem to be in conflict with our bazaar model.

The package managers right now ARE that curated list and distributions like Debian have proven themselves to be trustworthy.

Of course, you can always find something wrong with every approach, but the truth that everyone needs to face here is that you need to trust SOMEONE to distribute good software to you.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#102

Post by izacus »

vehemenz wrote: post #40
tech234a wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows has winget built in.

They allow anyone to submit to the repository with minimal vetting, and the package selection is inferior compared to Homebrew. Maybe we have different ideas about what "official" and "comprehensive" mean.

I'd love to hear what "official" means to you and why that definition has value for a package manager.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#103

Post by II2II »

mikae1 wrote: post #80
azangru wrote: post #5

Took me a while to understand what "using Google to download software" means. Was there a hidden functionality I wasn't aware of? Turns out, what they mean is "don't use Google to search for software you wish to download".

> Took me a while to understand what "using Google to download software" means Classic clickbait tactics. That was intentional, it made you click the link.

I agree, though probably for a different reason. The reality is that one always had to be careful when following download links from any search engine. The reasons may have changed with time and the amount of risk may ebb and flow, but it was always best to verify the source of the download in order to reduce the likelihood of an unwanted payload. Headlines that imply this is new or unique to a particular search engine are dishonest.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#104

Post by Rumudiez »

cma wrote: post #74
dahdum wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I need to add "reddit" or "stackoverflow" to half my searches these days It feels truly absurd how many queries I need to append "reddit" to get something useful. The web has changed but Google isn't keeping up.

Why do they rank reddit so low be default? Does reddit not run stuff from their ad networks?

Large page sizes, short session times, and I’m sure a myriad other things help reddit earn that low ranking all by themselves. Serving up google ads doesn’t help with seo

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#105

Post by TremendousJudge »

hgsgm wrote: post #75
rom-antics wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why the appeal-to-ethics argument against adblocking holds no weight with me. Yes, maybe I stole $0.0001 from the publisher by not looking at an advert. But I also didn't have my bank password stolen and my files cryptolockered. It's a small price to pay for security.

I don't know about "stole" but the value of those ads is more like $100/yr/user

I know people who got robbed of more than that by scams that showed up on ads

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#106

Post by BizarreByte »

mmcgaha wrote: post #6
GavinAnderegg wrote: post #2

Google's search product has become a shadow of its former self. Every year it seems harder to find what I'm looking for. The top half of the first search result page is now (potentially malicious) ads, and what follows is likely SEO spam. I need to add "reddit" or "stackoverflow" to half my searches these days so I'm not served nearly useless results. It's a sad decline from 10+ years ago when I'd type a half-formed…

I was looking for info about an online acquaintance that I used to game with 20+ years ago. His handle is pretty unique but google would not return anything. Bing on the other hand had me finding all of his old post leading to his real name and now I am back in email contact. I get the feeling that google is just filtering out anything over a certain age and below a certain level of popularity.

Google heavily favours newness, I am sure of that. It used to be easy to find very old, but relevant results. The content still exists, but even with date filters it’s hard to find now.

It’s made supporting very old things (products, code, computers) extremely difficult.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#107

Post by horsawlarway »

Honestly - just stop using Google search (and while I remain flabberghasted I'm saying this - Edge is a better chromium browser than Chrome.). Or better yet, any Google product. The company is diving off a cliff.

For reference... A private Jellyfin server I use for hosting videos of my kid for his grandparents, and some music I legally own is consistently flagged as phishing (along with basically anyone else hosting them publicly based on this thread: https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-web/issues/4076)

Google has "automated" itself into the garbage.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#108

Post by csours »

gumby wrote: post #61
csours wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The information landscape is hostile, your attention is valuable, so there is motivation to hijack it.

Sadly there’s disproportionate value. Your attention is only worth a few cents, the criminals' (SEOers, scammer ps etc) cost is miniscule per user, but the cost to each user of the misinformation and wasted time is larger. Like breaking a shop window to steal something small and easily transported/resold.

I think this is why there is value in moderated spaces like reddit [complex feelings here], the moderators and team/tribe mentality ensure that there is informational value to at least that group [more complex feelings here].

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#109

Post by deburo »

jaclaz wrote: post #17
azangru wrote: post #5

Took me a while to understand what "using Google to download software" means. Was there a hidden functionality I wasn't aware of? Turns out, what they mean is "don't use Google to search for software you wish to download".

>Turns out, what they mean is "don't use Google to search for software you wish to download". I think the reality is more like "when you search for software on Google do not use links in the ads that you get at top of the results". Though of course there may well be "normal" results leading to shady sites, the issue talked about is related to advertisement results.

It's pretty effective too, I often ask colleagues to download this or that app and just giving its name, but they keep falling for Google Ads. Now I send them an URL instead.

If I didn't know any better, I would think about suing Google for boosting malware spread x)

As an aside, I'm always suspicious of free utilities being downloadable from well-designed hosting websites, such as www.fosshub.com. I'm less suspicious downloading it from a very basic, almost plain text web page, for whatever reason.

Re: Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

#110

Post by BizarreByte »

grishka wrote: post #39
GavinAnderegg wrote: post #2

Google's search product has become a shadow of its former self. Every year it seems harder to find what I'm looking for. The top half of the first search result page is now (potentially malicious) ads, and what follows is likely SEO spam. I need to add "reddit" or "stackoverflow" to half my searches these days so I'm not served nearly useless results. It's a sad decline from 10+ years ago when I'd type a half-formed…

It's gotten so bad that there's now an ad blocker filter list that removes the StackOverflow clones from search results.

I’d love a list of URLs for low quality stuff like GeeksforGeeks so I can block them all.
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