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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

#321

Post by 72deluxe »

MBCook wrote: post #259
dguaraglia wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on the "run well even on 5+ years old hardware" bit. Sure, the OS will boot and work, but that doesn't mean things will work well . My late 2011 13-in MacBook Pro became unbearably slow after doing a clean upgrade to Mavericks. Only upgrading the memory to 8GB (which was not supported by Apple for that model) fixed the issue. Yosemite works, but looks like crap on anything without a retina display. Newer versions of…

I'm currently running the latest version of Yosemite. I have a 2010 MacBook Pro 15 inch with eight gigs of RAM and an SSD. I've had little bugs and fiddly bugs with Safari and a few other things, but I really thinks it has worked fine for years and years on the machine. It noticeably improved when they added RAM compression (was that Mavericks?). I don't find the graphics a problem at all, although they do look bette…

Did you upgrade to an SSD? I have a 2012 MBP non-retina with a slow Toshiba drive in it (it seems it is entirely coincidental whether you'll get a Toshiba or Samsung in your new MacBook!) and I am considering upgrading to an SSD. I use BootCamp (periodic Windows gaming) and have a bunch of large VMs within OSX, so I would be interested in how the upgrade went and where to look, how to clone my disk etc. etc.

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

#322

Post by 72deluxe »

greedo wrote: post #197
hyc_symas wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and now that you've posted that, I fully expect a mysterious hardware failure to suddenly manifest....

The good thing is that eBay is flooded with cheap old Mac Pros, so parts won't be hard to come by.

Such beautiful cases too!

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

#323

Post by 72deluxe »

vacri wrote: post #207
matt4077 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, OS X updates are free and usually run well even on 5+ years old hardware. OS X has kinda gone the way of Chrome, with most users on the newest version.

usually run well even on 5+ years old hardware At my last office we had older macs, a mix of laptops and desktops. They all ran slow, with one user's mac pro using all 4GB RAM on a fresh boot with nothing loaded. These folks were normal users, not power users. When a new OSX release would come out, a few people would upgrade, have a ton of problems, and warn everyone else. I ran linux myself, and was occasionally cal…

I recall the same pain with Vista - booting to an empty desktop saw insane RAM usage.

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

#324

Post by aceperry »

rodgerd wrote: post #223
PopsiclePete wrote: post #168

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. FWIW the Signature series Wintel laptops sold through the Microsoft store are base Windows+driver builds, no crapware allowed.

Once you start to install other software though, that's when it becomes a dangerous proposition.

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

#325

Post by 72deluxe »

s_q_b wrote: post #163
tsieling wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple's model customer is one who upgrades often. I don't know any tech company that doesn't have that idea of a model customer :) To their credit, I can run the latest on a pretty old Mac Mini at home. It's not as fast as it used to be, but it is supported long after the form factor of the Mini has undergone big changes. I don't consider myself being squeezed to upgrade.

I booted up one of those G3 candy colored clamshell iBooks from the early 2000s recently. Not only did start flawlessly, it found and connected to the WiFi, and actually loaded Google on Internet Explorer for Mac.

Out of interest, did it display the results pages from Google alright? Or was the CSS and JavaScript etc. not recognised?

Was it usable, speedwise, as a machine?

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

#326

Post by 72deluxe »

olefoo wrote: post #310
diminoten wrote: post #16

> Apple indicated that this issue required a substantial amount of changes on their side, and that they will not back port the fix to 10.9.x and older. What ? So all OS X boxes are simply broken, privileges-wise, if they're not on 10.10?

That's how I read it. And that's why I'm making plans to migrate away from Apple Desktop.

To what though? All the other offerings don't seem at the same state, unless Windows 10 can rescue us all?

I notice that Windows 10 has had new bits shoe-horned in (a new settings screen!) whilst still keeping ALL the old stuff there (MMC as written in 1998? Control Panel is still there despite this new Settings page, duplication much? None of the icons match etc. etc. what a hodgepodge)

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

#327

Post by 72deluxe »

jarfil wrote: post #193
TeMPOraL wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll just think "oh god, I have viruses!" and call whoever is the family's "computer whiz". The very concept of "this system is not secure" is something that ordinary user does not understand. Source: I'm a family "computer whiz" :/.

Many people still think that "Macs don't get viruses". Having that faith shattered can drive more than one away from the product.

That's true.

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

#328

Post by 72deluxe »

rewqfdsa wrote: post #190
po1nter wrote: post #69

OT but I have to say that the amount of Apple apologists in these comments is mind blowing. HN reader of all people should be the ones urging Apple to issue a fix for a very serious bug such as this one. Yet many comments here are saying that people should just upgrade while it might solve the problem for some, there are ones who can't upgrade machines at will.

po1nter, We do not allow developers to criticize our revolutionary and beautiful platform. Good luck ever getting an app featured again. - Apple

Haha reminds me of the article from the other week: http://www.elischiff.com/blog/2015/3/24/fear-of-apple

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

#330

Post by 72deluxe »

_cbsz wrote: post #84
kaoD wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain this to non Obj-C users? How does it not crash on null pointers?

The Obj-C function call [foo doSomething] compiles to the equivalent of objc_msgSend(foo, "doSomething"); (for the pedantic, I'm intentionally simplifying and leaving out objc_selfrefs) The first thing objc_msgSend does is check if foo is nil and, if so, returns 0/nil/the all-zero bit pattern/whatever. It can be extremely convenient, but it can also be extremely inconvenient.

Very informative, thanks. I am a C++ developer and recently had to fix a bug in an OSX app using Obj-C, which looks insane syntax to me. This only goes to reaffirm my belief that it's insane.

Anyway, I'll carry on reading my ObjC book as obviously the language has uses, although there's a Swift book in the post. Which do I read first though, eh?

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