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Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

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

#421

Post by tterrace »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #62
jbk wrote: post #49

I can speak quite a bit about this "industry": We (VLC) receive 1 of those offers per day. They are liars, shady business, IP violators and are downright dangerous. They have all those great offers for you, but they refuse to give any details as soon as you ask any question. More than half of them are "the biggest in the world" (sic). They lie about download numbers, about download size, about number of software actu…

Exactly this. I'm often advising people to install VLC when they are having problems with Windows Media Player, but whenever I tell them to google for it on their own they end up with some toolbar infested crap. So now I specifically instruct them to go to videolan.org.

This just happened to my friend yesterday when I told him to install VLC. I think he may have clicked an ad instead of the first search result. I saw three pages for different add-ons and toolbars with several pre-checked checkboxes apiece. After unchecking and clicking through it just exited (hopefully) and launched the VLC install program.

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

#422

Post by hakaaak »

I absolutely despise crapware, google or ask toolbars, etc. that are bundled with installers, however if there is a market for it and there is no law against it, it will happen.

And once Google/etc. one day has everyone's credit card info and charges us more often, I could totally see items starting to be added ala Vistaprint (if you've used Vistaprint you almost certainly know what I'm talking about) like magazine trial subscriptions, etc.

The more the economy sinks and people are less willing to spend, the more crap will get dumped on us. Fact of life.

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

#423

Post by w1ntermute »

jarek wrote: post #402
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Ubuntu and I can't stand unity. It's far too easy to do `sudo apt-get install gnome-shell` and do `sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable; sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install cinammon` and still enjoy the Ubuntu base (community, font patches, etc). I've bounced around between many DEs lately. Elementary is really great, especially when I was just coming from OS X, but I've been sh…

xfce improved my experience of ubuntu considerably as well and the install was trivial too (sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop). alt-tab works there!

I use Xubuntu, it's probably the best way to get the good parts of Ubuntu (the good package selection, proprietary software support, and OOTB hardware support) while also having a good UI.

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

#424

Post by pit »

smacktoward wrote: post #207
archangel_one wrote: post #58

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.

Seriously. Take a look at the official site for the excellent open-source Windows graphics editor Paint.NET, for instance: http://www.getpaint.net/ Now tell me where you are supposed to click to download the actual application. It confuses me, and I'm an experienced user who knows to look out for these sorts of things. I have no idea how normal people ever find the damn thing. My question is: whose fault is this? Is…

Pardon me, but Paint.NET is not open-source.

"You may not modify, adapt, rent, lease, loan, sell, or create derivative works based upon the Software or any part thereof."

I did find this, but I've never used it: http://code.google.com/p/openpdn/

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

#425

Post by jarek »

mylittlepony wrote: post #398
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Ubuntu and I can't stand unity. It's far too easy to do `sudo apt-get install gnome-shell` and do `sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable; sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install cinammon` and still enjoy the Ubuntu base (community, font patches, etc). I've bounced around between many DEs lately. Elementary is really great, especially when I was just coming from OS X, but I've been sh…

I don't know why people hate it, I love it. It gives me so much more visual space. For example, with Unity I was able to start using Virtualbox VM's maximized instead of full screen, which is so much more comfortable. The host has the sidebar hidden (shows on hover), and the guest has it always visible (as hover wouldn't work for a guest). It really makes a great use of the visual space.

The alt-tab behaviour is borderline unworkable for anyone who's used Windows or Linux windows managers before 2011 and is trying to work with a case like several terminal windows and a browser window.

My GNOME 2/XFCE/MATE setup has one bar on top of the screen and that's it, I'm finding it is pretty good for screen space even on widescreen laptops.

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

#426

Post by eitland »

creativityland wrote: post #373
makomk wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the ads. For a while, Google helped made this even worse by paying companies like Dell to set the default search on new PCs to specially-customised version of Google with far more prominent ads that were less clearly distinguished from normal search results.

Wow. Source?

Dell has been installing crap since at least 2006/07. Thats when I started wondering why all new PCs at a certain company where all infected just few days after purchase. Then I realized this thing (myway?) was being installed by default.

I really didn't think it was ever a Google product though. Correct me if I'm wrong.

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

#427

Post by eitland »

jarek wrote: post #425
mylittlepony wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why people hate it, I love it. It gives me so much more visual space. For example, with Unity I was able to start using Virtualbox VM's maximized instead of full screen, which is so much more comfortable. The host has the sidebar hidden (shows on hover), and the guest has it always visible (as hover wouldn't work for a guest). It really makes a great use of the visual space.

The alt-tab behaviour is borderline unworkable for anyone who's used Windows or Linux windows managers before 2011 and is trying to work with a case like several terminal windows and a browser window. My GNOME 2/XFCE/MATE setup has one bar on top of the screen and that's it, I'm finding it is pretty good for screen space even on widescreen laptops.

The alt-tab thing I think they copied directly from Apple (not necessarily a good thing).

The thing that really hurts about the new alt-tab is that it breaks my mental stack. On Windows, in KDE etc I can switch back and forth between two browser windows easily. On Mac and Unity you either have to decide of your last app change was an app change or a instance change.

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

#428

Post by gergles »

ditoa wrote: post #126
josteink wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Winzip and Nero use the Ask Partner Network Sadly, on Windows even Oracle's Java has the ASK toolbar. Almost nobody has any pride left on the Windows-platform, user-abuse is rampant, almost expected. It's killing the platform and there's nothing Microsoft can do about it.

Only the Java installer stub (online installer) has the ASK toolbar prompt, the offline installer does not.

The updater always prompts you for it, though, because it always uses the stub installer. Shameful.

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

#429

Post by sneak »

patio11 wrote: post #416
patio11 wrote: post #152

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...

Comment in elaboration, somewhat delayed because (all evidence to the contrary) I do sleep sometimes: Some folks mentioned that this could be misleading, so to clarify: my research methodology, to the extent it can be called that, was a) open up the IM website, b) take a look at their advertiser partner wall (they don't have a developer partner wall, so I wasn't able to view the end-user experience directly), c) Goog…

It is terrifying that it is this easy to get an intelligent and well-versed member of our community to download and execute a relatively-unknown binary, just to "see what it does".

I should probably start doing more of that other kind of hacking.

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

#430

Post by adandy »

gergles wrote: post #428
ditoa wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only the Java installer stub (online installer) has the ASK toolbar prompt, the offline installer does not.

The updater always prompts you for it, though, because it always uses the stub installer. Shameful.

justcheck says "Sorry about that vulnerability that was all over the news, here is an update for you... but first maybe you would like to install the Ask Toolbar??? Yeah?"
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