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Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

notepad-plus-plus.org

381–390 of 560 posts

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think it's socially acceptable to ignore everything that doesn't affect you personally? Many activists would certainly have you think otherwise. As far as I can tell, fighting that habit is a huge goal of activism.

Yes. Activists also don’t focus on all causes, not even most. They cherry pick whatever topic is hot in that moment. Sorry, I don’t care about that when I’m browsing something about software. When I care about politics I’ll deal with actual politics. Reddit won’t change my mind nor the world.

Same. I go to technical or other forums in order to pursue hobbies of interest and escape the political shitshow of the real world, not be reminded of it every step of the way. I don't want to be bombarded with their opinions on the matter, even if they were to align with my own. Virtue signaling becomes a slippery slope that only induces more division, anxiety and fatigue over those issues, while not actually helping with solving them in any meaningful way.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#382

So, let me get this straight. If I've been lazy, postponed updates and I'm still on 8.5.8 (Oct 2023) - it turns out I'm actually...safer? Anyway, I hope the author can be a bit more specific about what actually has happened to those unlucky enough to have received these malicious updates. And perhaps a tool to e.g. do a checksum of all Notepad++ files, and compare them to the ones of a verified clean install of the u…

This reminds me of college, when some of my professors were still sorting out their curriculum and would give us homework assignments with bugs in it. I complained many times that they were enabling my innate procrastination by proving over and over again that starting the homework early meant you would get screwed. Every time I'd wait until the people in the forum started sounding optimistic before even looking at t…

I work in a lab as an analyst (bioinformatician), we are register and pay for quality assurance programs that contain an embarrassing about of technical errors.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#383
post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of college, when some of my professors were still sorting out their curriculum and would give us homework assignments with bugs in it. I complained many times that they were enabling my innate procrastination by proving over and over again that starting the homework early meant you would get screwed. Every time I'd wait until the people in the forum started sounding optimistic before even looking at t…

I work in a lab as an analyst (bioinformatician), we are register and pay for quality assurance programs that contain an embarrassing about of technical errors.

> an embarrassing about of technical errors

amount? ;)

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care for the current status quo at all. The current administration has wrecked this country and completely compromised its position in the global economy potentially forever. But there is a time and a place for those arguments and activism, as well as the same for other parts of the world suffering from similar or worse issues. Like, I wouldn't be receptive to hearing about Ukraine every time I go to the groc…

It’s all well and good for you if you want to be a consumer of political content when it suits you, but for a creator, the creation’s whole purpose may be a delivery mechanism for their message which may otherwise go unheard. Not saying this is necessarily what Don Ho (Notepad++) is doing, but it’s possible. Create something so good that people can’t help but use it (preferably the demographic you most want to reach,…

Both the points:

1. I don't want to see political messages in unrelated delivery mechanisms

and

2. I created $PRODUCT as a delivery mechanism for a political message

are equally valid.

I feel that the problem that comes about is when a $PRODUCT was not created as a delivery mechanism but is being co-opted into being one at some later stage; the audience feels deceived and the creator feels that the audience is ungrateful.

I'm not very familiar with Notepad++ (having never used it, nor experienced any desire to try it), but I'm fairly certain that the creator has been political long enough now that the audience cannot complain about the message being delivered with the product.

It's like complaining about Vim having a message for the plight of Ugandans - it's been there for decades; too late to complain now about it.

I'm more sympathetic to complaints over projects which never had a specific political message suddenly acquiring one when they realised what a large audience they had, or when new people join a decades-old project and introduce a political message that was never there before. I can sorta understand outrage then.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#385
post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in a lab as an analyst (bioinformatician), we are register and pay for quality assurance programs that contain an embarrassing about of technical errors.

> an embarrassing about of technical errors amount? ;)

Number?

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Whatever stance changes nothing .. is a vote for the status quo, by definition. As problematic as the assertion "by definition" is aside, it should be noted that endlessly commenting about politics on internet forums effectively changes nothing. I've been kettled by mounted officers and hit by high pressure hoses on cold evenings, something that also rarely effects change .. but that's a least a fun night out with…

Whether it's a waste is not entirely up to you. There are plenty of people on this forum who are completely naive and live in a bubble. The chance that a comment they see her could make a lightbulb go off is non-zero. But if I were a nihilist I might agree with you.

So write good comments, neutral in tone, avoid preaching, stick to the facts, gently emphasize how laws are being broken without an excess of righteuosness, see the people whose opinions you oppose and find common ground to pivot to your position, etc.

When last we crossed you appeared to be lecturing people while incorrectly paraphrasing their actual position (aka strawmanning)( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46793399 ).

FWiW I recall handing a guitar (I hear they kill facists) to Billy Bragg way back when he was on tour Talking to the Taxman About Poetry and FYI he's back, again, following Springsteen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOW2ZikGW8

So, good luck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ2QOwQdHL8

Maybe sidestep becoming a parody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1_uEbGJtnY

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, so this has to do with mainland China going after those who think the Taiwanese do not belong to mainland China. Well, I see them as independent folks. Mainland China needs to stop thinking it can occupy land willy-nilly; unfortunately with USA, Russia and China thinking they can bully other countries that lack nukes, I think these smaller countries absolutely need nukes for defensive purpose. It is also annoying…

In 2026 hoping that software could be (more) apolitical is a very brave stance. I look at the software world and I can see core political statements in almost every popular software. From privacy invasion, supporting shady industries (e.g., marketing) even at the expense of people (a reverse-welfare, in a sense), environmental destruction (e.g., complete lack of care for resource usage) and many more. If anything, we…

Okay, lets go with your reasoning - software should not be apolitical/should be more political.

Where's the bar where you shut down discussion? I mean, even politics is contextual, right?

You entering a campaign about the plight of Myanmar and getting annoyed at people who don't want to hear your message about Gaza puts the blame for any conflict arising on that purely on ... YOU!

IOW, Even within political discussion, you can still be off-topic!

> If you meant to scope your statement only to FOSS, then this still applies (in fact, FOSS is inherently political)

Entering a GNU project (which has the political context of Copyleft and IP reform), and attempting to use it to spread a message about ICE behaviour still makes that asshole behaviour.

Only the most extremist true-believers feel that every platform is for their benefit. Trust me, it's not.

Re: Notepad++ hijacked by state-sponsored actors

#390

Probably related to this: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v869-about-taiwan/

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. My opinion is that open source documentation is like polite dinner conversation: It’s not the proper place to discuss politics. If an author wishes to use their open source project as a platform to discuss politics, that’s the author’s prerogative. But then, as perhaps in this instance, it could be to the detriment of the project itself.

That is a position of privilege.

You can ignore politics, but at certain point, politics cease to ignore you.

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