Live data from Hacker News

Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

istartedsomething.com

171–180 of 468 posts

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I've run afoul of the "download button" adverts before. I'm not surprised to see them on torrent sites etc, but it amazes me that some supposedly reputable download sites would allow such things.

Good rule of thumb is to look for the smallest "Download" link on the page.

So true, the real one is almost always an ordinary looking link rather than a button.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#172
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what they're doing about it? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/apps

I was considering mentioning Windows RT/Windows 8 and it's "Metro" (Modern) app-store. but decided that I wouldn't. Not because I didn't think about it, not because I wasn't aware of it, but because I decided that so far it seems not to be a very effective means to the end of salvaging Windows' reputation. Especially given how the "Metro" platform so far seemingly have caused more negative user-feedback than positive…

I admit that I no longer use Windows daily and I've never tried Win 8 so I'm not super plugged in to what they're doing these days. But I don't see any inherit reason why Apple can more-or-less successfully bolt an App Store onto their OS while Microsoft cannot.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, a lot of the reasons that non technical users dislike Windows seem to be the result of these. It really takes control out of the users hands. We can see the origins of this becoming a problem on Ubuntu with Canonical adding stuff like the Amazon search and seemingly having no issue with bundleware as a means of monetisation. On the other hand I'm surprised this isn't more of an issue on the Mac, since Mac (es…

> Is there something about OS X that makes bundleware more difficult to develop or is it just easier to monetise an OS X app without bundleware? MacOS apps very rarely have an installer, so there's little opportunity to install this sort of thing.

Installers are (rightfully) rare on OS X, but that doesn't preclude installing any random crapware you want. Your app can do it on first launch (or hey, tenth launch to make it less visible). Lots of apps have a first-launch screen where they confirm some options and maybe even ask for an admin password for housekeeping.

Hmm, Monetizer.framework?

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#174

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company." And seeing a strong thread title and no evidence for it other than "The industry they're in is ridiculously seedy", I thought maybe HN was in rush to judgement mode. So I thought I'd try, you know, installing something. Make your own call: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/its-not-a...

My favourite part is how, by default, it won't even save your old settings for un-installation. Nice.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#175
post #143
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people these days are bashing Apple and Google for creating walled gardens with their app stores, but this is really the primary reason such walled gardens have taken off. They offer a mostly crapware-free experience. If Linux on the desktop were to get popular, I'd hate to imagine what might happen to the open source Fedora and Debian/Ubuntu repositories.

I'm not sure that's a legit fear... Linux on the desktop in 2013 is fairly 'popular' and if it were that simple to infiltrate popular repos with spyware it would have been done years ago. There are a ton of good people who work to keep those repos clean. Lets not trivialize their contribution by acting like anyone and their mother can make changes to the repo for a popular distro. Sure, a black[/grey] hat can make th…

infiltrating a repo is probably not the hard part, the hard part is getting a linux app that people would want to install.

AFAIK, 0 QC or checking is done on the contents of a repo. additionally, there have been enough times in the past where someone has just straight up rooted the servers that the repo lives on ...

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#176

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company." And seeing a strong thread title and no evidence for it other than "The industry they're in is ridiculously seedy", I thought maybe HN was in rush to judgement mode. So I thought I'd try, you know, installing something. Make your own call: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/its-not-a...

It makes me a little sad when I remember what pg aways say to startups. Make something users love.

Not this time, though...

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#177

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company." And seeing a strong thread title and no evidence for it other than "The industry they're in is ridiculously seedy", I thought maybe HN was in rush to judgement mode. So I thought I'd try, you know, installing something. Make your own call: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/its-not-a...

"They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company."

Why do you think they would have a different angle if they are a YC company?

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#178

This is the reason why I don't understand that people say that Linux is for "technical" users while Windows is for regular consumers. In Linux it's easier to install something that in Windows. E.g. to install a CD to MP3 rip program, in Archlinux all you do is: # Search for some mp3 ripper program pacman -Ss mp3 | grep rip # Install one of them from the list that looked ok from the description pacman -S ripperx In Wi…

How exactly is a regular customer going to know what to type and where? Many have trouble with a GUI, let alone a CLI. And Archlinux is just one of many distros and has its own idiosyncracies (e.g. "Pacman" isn't going to work on Ubuntu out the box). Installation of crapware has nothing to do with ease of installation, you've just purposefully made it seem drawn out. You could've just said Google "CD to MP3" and a fe…

I am a linux user (linux mint cinnamon). When I need a new software, I launch the software manager, I type in the search criteria. This gives me a list of software. When I click a software, I have a list of users feedbacks and an install button. When I click install, it asks for my password and that is all.

When I am on the command line and I type a command that is not installed, I get: jef@sweethome ~ $ 7z The program '7z' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing: sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

I just need to do copy paste and type in my password.

Sometimes, the software is not in the repository (for example xbmc), but the commands to type, or the installer to launch are clearly indicated on the site.

I was a windows user, software installation (and removal) is a lot easier now.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#179

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company." And seeing a strong thread title and no evidence for it other than "The industry they're in is ridiculously seedy", I thought maybe HN was in rush to judgement mode. So I thought I'd try, you know, installing something. Make your own call: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/its-not-a...

Wow! Defaulting the easy revert option to unchecked is the perfect kicker. It's like a cartoon villain curling his mustache.

The wording on that choice is incredible too.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#180
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dragging an app into /Applications does just that: it copies a directory (hidden with an .app extension) that contains resources and executable. No script. Some apps however come with an installer, but that's for apps that do more (e.g. need to install drivers, etc.). However, it's Apple's own installer which I think is provided by Xcode. So, no way to mess with it and install crappy things.

You can run arbitrary scripts in the installer, so you can install anything you want.

You can even (if you are iTunes 2.0, or a hater) delete the user's entire home directory!
Post reply on HN