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Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

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Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#241
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're seriously concerned, why not use an external drive of some sort and install Yosemite to it? (Bonus points: clone your internal disk to it first, and upgrade that.) Boot it up, test out your critical functions, and then update your main volume if it works out for you.

Would using an external drive make it noticeably slower, making performance non-representative?

This + SSD (Crucial IIRC) gives me 200+Mb/s write, 400+Mb/s read speeds: http://amzn.com/B00FCLG65U

USB 3.0 is pretty fast. Without TRIM performance will probably degrade but that will take time.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, 10.10.0 for me was perfect. 10.10.1 broke my wifi. Anytime the computer woke up from sleep, I'd have to reset the wifi card so it could find my access point. After 10.10.2 came out, I got my second-ever full computer lock-up. I've had the same OS image since 10.5 (migrated and upgraded multiple time, obviously) and this was the second time my computer required a hard reboot. And this was while watching a video…

> Windows is out of the question after seeing what a factory OEM image comes with nowadays. I'm not giving them money and spending 2 days formatting/reinstalling/seeking out drivers on slow Taiwanese servers just to make a half-usable computer. And then, after all that, spend another 2 days installing various adware infested shitware to get a fricking PDF viewer. Microsoft Signature PCs solve this problem. :) http://…

The fact that they even need to have a separate version of Windows which is what it should have been from day 1 is already bullshit.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Windows is out of the question after seeing what a factory OEM image comes with nowadays. Fair play. Research the manufacturer's policy if you're buying pre-built. If you build your own desktops, this is not an issue. >I'm not giving them money and spending 2 days formatting/reinstalling/seeking out drivers on slow Taiwanese servers just to make a half-usable computer. When's the last time you actually installed dri…

>Fair play. Research the manufacturer's policy if you're buying pre-built. If you build your own desktops, this is not an issue. I can build my own desktop, but I can't build my own laptop. I use laptops exclusively for work. >When's the last time you actually installed drivers on a fresh Windows install? Less than year ago on my girlfriend's VAIO laptop, actually. Windows 7. >Microsoft has made progress on supportin…

I'm pretty sure that at least since 8, Windows has a built-in PDF viewer.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#244

Of course this exploits XPC. I really hate all the desktop IPC bullshit. IPC frameworks are pure fucking evil. COM, D-Bus, XPC, everything SUCKS. If you want completely separate programs on one machine to talk, use UNIX domain sockets (with something like ZeroMQ or HTTP), FIFOs (named pipes), anything that you can chmod and chown, not a daemon that reinvents access control, badly.

Is this a systemd thread? This looks like a systemd thread!

Full of emotional, uninformed, off-topic FUD-fueled rants? Yup, definitely a systemd thread!

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#245
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have 3 macs. One of them is an older iMac. I can't put enough RAM in it to run Mavericks (which is a memory hog). It is a perfectly good computer, there is no reason to upgrade from Lion. The next one is a 3 year old Mac Mini. I upgraded to Yosemite and it performs TERRIBLY. It has 16G of RAM. I've tried everything. Yosemite just sucks. The machine is now much slower than the 6 or 7 year old iMac with only 4G or RA…

"I can't put enough RAM in it to run Mavericks (which is a memory hog)." I'd upgrade to Yosemite today with the latest updates. They just freed up 4 GB of ram for me. Sadly if I had known all of this beforehand I wouldn't have gone out of the way to buy some old Mac Pro where I could upgrade the memory to 32 GB or more, so I just wasted about $1500 for the whole setup. Then again like you, I transitioned my work to a…

You can't run Yosemite on a lot of older hardware: http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#247
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Fair play. Research the manufacturer's policy if you're buying pre-built. If you build your own desktops, this is not an issue. I can build my own desktop, but I can't build my own laptop. I use laptops exclusively for work. >When's the last time you actually installed drivers on a fresh Windows install? Less than year ago on my girlfriend's VAIO laptop, actually. Windows 7. >Microsoft has made progress on supportin…

None of your complaints are about Windows. They're all, almost universally, about OEM and third-party shovelware. You want to avoid OEMs trashing your computer? Don't pretend this is about a lack of choice, or about Microsoft being stuck in the past. It's about you being ignorant of your options, or ignorant of the ecosystem. Buy a Signature Series machine from Microsoft.[1] No crapware, no bundled "features" or "tri…

I wish I could upvote this comment a million times. I see the same kind of ignorance-of-their-options (note I specifically say ignorance-of-their-options; I'm not saying anyone is generally ignorant) reflected when developers complain that it's hard to get under the hood of Windows or when developers complain about the tooling on Windows. You'd at least hope that this segment of the user-base would have more intellectual curiosity sometimes.

From the software developer angle, Windows is a FANTASTIC system when you need to get down to the nuts and bolts. People really need to educate themselves about the registry and the various ways the OS can be tweaked; as well as the various tools available (at a bare minimum those from Sysinternals).

Some other examples - the extensible kernel-level instrumentation that you get from ETW; the excellent crash and hang analysis tools provided by the likes of WinDbg (supported by the excellent debugging support in the Windows kernel -- yes, you can enable a keyboard shortcut that will memory dump your machine if it's hung and then it's a few commands to see what crashed); the commandline environment provided by PowerShell (I haven't used it much but really need to get into it more). Not to mention Application Verfier.

I could keep going on and on but it'd probably cloud my point if I haven't done so already :)

Not saying it's perfect or the be-all-and-end-all either; I also use all three major OSs, though primarily develop .NET software on Windows. Just frustrating that many of the complaints can be boiled down to "Windows doesn't work just like Linux/Unix does".

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#248
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Fair play. Research the manufacturer's policy if you're buying pre-built. If you build your own desktops, this is not an issue. I can build my own desktop, but I can't build my own laptop. I use laptops exclusively for work. >When's the last time you actually installed drivers on a fresh Windows install? Less than year ago on my girlfriend's VAIO laptop, actually. Windows 7. >Microsoft has made progress on supportin…

None of your complaints are about Windows. They're all, almost universally, about OEM and third-party shovelware. You want to avoid OEMs trashing your computer? Don't pretend this is about a lack of choice, or about Microsoft being stuck in the past. It's about you being ignorant of your options, or ignorant of the ecosystem. Buy a Signature Series machine from Microsoft.[1] No crapware, no bundled "features" or "tri…

I almost totally agree with your overall view, but you could have made the same point whilst still being civil about it...

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#249
post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I can't put enough RAM in it to run Mavericks (which is a memory hog)." I'd upgrade to Yosemite today with the latest updates. They just freed up 4 GB of ram for me. Sadly if I had known all of this beforehand I wouldn't have gone out of the way to buy some old Mac Pro where I could upgrade the memory to 32 GB or more, so I just wasted about $1500 for the whole setup. Then again like you, I transitioned my work to a…

You can't run Yosemite on a lot of older hardware: http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade .

2007 is pretty old when it comes to Macs.

For 2009 and up Mac Pros, there are plenty of hardware options for upgrades; and firmware as well for 2009.

Re: Hidden backdoor API to root privileges in Apple OS X

#250

Of course this exploits XPC. I really hate all the desktop IPC bullshit. IPC frameworks are pure fucking evil. COM, D-Bus, XPC, everything SUCKS. If you want completely separate programs on one machine to talk, use UNIX domain sockets (with something like ZeroMQ or HTTP), FIFOs (named pipes), anything that you can chmod and chown, not a daemon that reinvents access control, badly.

> I really hate all the desktop IPC bullshit. IPC frameworks are pure fucking evil. COM, D-Bus, XPC, everything SUCKS.

> If you want completely separate programs on one machine to talk, use UNIX domain sockets

D-Bus does use UNIX domain sockets. Your ruthless hate should probably try harder at informing itself.

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