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What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

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Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#221

Post by johansch »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #186
Renaud wrote: post #14

Instead of dowloading from Sourceforge (loaded with ads and its own devious 'installer'), CNET, Download, etc, there are no-crapware alternatives that offer more management tools as well (remembering your list of apps across machines, automated updates, discoverability): Ninite: nice, simple, installer: just select apps and let the installer do it all for you. AllMyApps: all the apps, no crapware (at least for now).…

We have much the same functionality at http://PortableApps.com/ You get an app store, an automatic app updater, an app manager, and hundreds of freeware and open source apps. All free of malware and bundleware. As a bonus, all the apps run from a single directory each, making it easy as pie to uninstall and remove all the apps settings at the same time (as opposed to bits left behind in AppData, Local AppData, the Re…

I love the functionality of portableapps.com! The web design does need some work though... :/

It's really way too visually cluttered. Somehow my brain has been trained to think "be careful" when I see clutter like this on a web page.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#222

Post by basch »

petecooper wrote: post #143

Mobile computer tech, here. War story follows. I handle high single-figures of these adware and/or potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) infestations every week. Mostly it's Windows 7 and 90% adware/PUPs-centric, occasionally ransomware. In the huge majority of cases, the following will get a computer back up and sorted in a sensible amount of (billable) time: First, bring known-good copies of AdwCleaner, Junkware Rem…

I disagree with this procedure.

1) Rebooting the computer can spread the infection. You should try to clean it with 0 reboots. Ignore safemode. Kill adwcleaner with taskmanager.

2)ComboxFix is unnecessary. Malwarebytes/ESET work most of the time, and if not there are about 3 other scans to use.

Anyone who wants to buy a new laptop for speed purposes should be talked into trying an SSD first. A cheap laptop comes with a mechanical hard drive and doesnt alleviate disk io bottlenecks.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#223

Post by larrik »

benihana wrote: post #162
iSnow wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironic, considering that Apple did exactly the same, when you installed QuickTime on Windows. They tried to trick you into installing iTunes and Safari and set them as default apps. Also, it stinks that Apple has nailed iOS that shut that even as a knowledgeable user you are not able to bypass it. They did not yet dare to do the same on Mac OS, but who knows when that comes.

Yep. This ruined my Apple for me for about half a decade. I refused to use any of their products because my only interaction with them was with their shitty Windows software, so I assumed all their software was shit. It wasn't until I worked with a Mac fan who let me use his 2005 MBP that I realized that they can actually make decent software. Microsoft seemed to do the exact opposite in this time period. Their Offic…

Unpopular opinion time:

I've had a Mac Mini for 3 years, and I still haven't found any Apple-made desktop software I would call "decent". I've had only iPhones since the 3G came out, too, so I'm not just an anti-fanboy.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#224

Post by vegedor »

danielweber wrote: post #171
zxcdw wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and that it's our own fault Whose fault exactly is it? Has anybody in HN worked with a company which does this crapware bundling, let alone creating? Or does anybody know anyone who's "in the business"? Because I, quite honestly, can't understand how or why people would be doing this. Is it really that "Well, I know this shit is going to infect thousands of machines with software which nobody would like to have, bu…

> Whose fault exactly is it? People who think that software should be free, as in beer. Developers have to be paid. When people paid for software with dollars, this exchange was much more straightforward. But now people think that software should be free as in beer, which means it comes with ad software or "sponsored software" that in turns sells ads, or spies on everything you do, or something to pay the bills.

Paying for software virtually limits the supply, which is detrimental to many efforts. Software is not a consumable like beer, therefore the comparison doesn't work. Granted, development is not a one-time investment with virtually unlimited pay-out, either, if maintenance is involved, and has a half-time decay due to progress in technology - but precisely because of that, people would rather not pay than make a risky investment. Ultimately, it's hard to put a price tag on it, therefore we are better of getting people jump the band-wagon instead of declining the benefits of the technology that in case of doubt would seem overpriced.

And then there are the idealistic developers who don't need to get paid for that specific piece, because they did it out of need, not greed. The potential for abuse on that side is also apparent, that limits the free market.

So, two adjoint markets exist with some customer-transfer:

One for power-users that can estimate the value of the tool and are willing to pay and another for freeloaders. Freeloaders benefit from a quick decline of value in the upper market, while the upper market benefits from a growing, free market that is basically advertising if not educating for the upper market. Only nothing is ever really free, freebies come with a small or hidden price attached.

I should go read the bazaar and the cathedral http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#225

Post by tormeh »

briandear wrote: post #50
favadi wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call it crap-ware. Sure, it's turned on by default but there is an option to turn them off.

The question I have is why it's turned in by default -- and why it's there in the first place? If it's there for revenue, then Ubuntu really isn't free.. You're paying by essentially leasing your computer to this revenue generating 'stuff'. Your 'payment' isn't monetary, but it's still a payment. Why can't we just buy stuff with actual money instead of going through the illusion that it's 'free?' I honestly don't hav…

A bit of everything. The dash' online component will search amazon etc for products while you type, but it will also search Wikipedia and seemingly every online resource under the sun. If I want to search Wikipedia I go there, so for me it's just annoying, but I can see it being useful to some.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#226

Post by petecooper »

basch wrote: post #222
petecooper wrote: post #143

Mobile computer tech, here. War story follows. I handle high single-figures of these adware and/or potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) infestations every week. Mostly it's Windows 7 and 90% adware/PUPs-centric, occasionally ransomware. In the huge majority of cases, the following will get a computer back up and sorted in a sensible amount of (billable) time: First, bring known-good copies of AdwCleaner, Junkware Rem…

I disagree with this procedure. 1) Rebooting the computer can spread the infection. You should try to clean it with 0 reboots. Ignore safemode. Kill adwcleaner with taskmanager. 2)ComboxFix is unnecessary. Malwarebytes/ESET work most of the time, and if not there are about 3 other scans to use. Anyone who wants to buy a new laptop for speed purposes should be talked into trying an SSD first. A cheap laptop comes with…

>Kill adwcleaner with taskmanager.

AdwCleaner requires a restart to finish up, as I understand it. If you know differently, I'm genuinely interested.

>ComboxFix is unnecessary.

Respectfully, I disagree. It's caught things that the others have missed. Anecdotal evidence, sure, but in my experience it's proven useful.

Most of the time new laptops are not for speed purposes - there is a misconception that a new laptop is a fresh start, not necessarily a much faster computer.

The thought process invariably is: this laptop is slow and full of ads, I need a new laptop to start over without the ads and _new is best_. My clients are mostly non-technical, that's why they call me; technical clients (say, 1 in 10) are more willing to explore SSD and appropriate RAM.

TV-advertised laptops for 200-250GBP are very appealing for my client demographic. It irks me, sure, but then sometimes people have to learn by doing. The tide is very slowly turning.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#227

Post by scrollaway »

rhia wrote: post #165
pjc50 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I boggle at people going to that much effort to pirate such cheap games. Is there a region restriction issue?

I know quite a few people who are too cheap to pay the < 1$ for most apps...

And I know quite a few people who are too broke to pay $1 for most apps. You are implying that people pirate $1 games "because they're too cheap to pay" which most of the time is just completely untrue - for a lot of people, it's a matter of not having the money.

Some people here need to take a reality check break once in a while and look at people who don't make as much as they do.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#228

Post by relaytheurgency »

richardwhiuk wrote: post #201
VLM wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like android f-droid store. Its mostly a windows problem. I haven't seen malware from .debian.org or more recently .freebsd.org.

That's due to the much smaller install base. As soon as you get any commercial software on linux, you break outside the package manager and start getting closer to crapware (see graphics drivers installation process which is normally 'download this shell file and execute it as root').

At that level (you're using linux, know what 'root' is, how to access root and how to execute a shell file as root) you're being lazy if something like that bites you in the ass.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#229

Post by hereonbusiness »

xroche wrote: post #193

And sometimes the crapware is bundled with legit free/open-source softwares :( (I ranted about that some time ago: http://blog.httrack.com/blog/2013/11/24/i-do-not-want-your-s... )

Oracle is bundling the Ask toolbar and McAfee Security Scanner as "optout adware" with java runtime updates, the whole windows 3rd party software ecosystem is nothing but a cesspit.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#230

Post by drzaiusapelord »

Renaud wrote: post #14

Instead of dowloading from Sourceforge (loaded with ads and its own devious 'installer'), CNET, Download, etc, there are no-crapware alternatives that offer more management tools as well (remembering your list of apps across machines, automated updates, discoverability): Ninite: nice, simple, installer: just select apps and let the installer do it all for you. AllMyApps: all the apps, no crapware (at least for now).…

I'll add filehippo.com to that list.
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