5 ms·

I'm typically very out of the loop on things but is there any particular reason HN seems to be hell bent on shitting on Zoom this week. Don't recall seeing this

I'm typically very out of the loop on things but is there any particular reason HN seems to be hell bent on shitting on Zoom this week. Don't recall seeing this much vitriol for a particular product in a while.

TallGuyShort 7y ago
With more and more of the world, and especially Silicon Valley, being locked-down and quarantined, video conferencing is obviously going through the roof and Zoom seems to be winning. It's just getting a lot of attention, and any flaws are suddenly more impactful.
- neltnerb 7y ago
  On the one hand, all the attention (if pride is removed from the equation) should be win-win since remote workers might end up less spied on or hacked and zoom still makes a huge profit.
  - DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
    if the best predictor of the future is past behavior then it doesn't look good.
    - neltnerb 7y ago
      But in answer to "why is HN shitting all over Zoom", I think the answer is "because they aren't doing good enough". There's no malice there (on the posters' side). If Zoom does better people won't have cause for shining a flashlight on their data privacy policies or security holes. We will see if Zoom grows up fast, since the momentum towards them is already so large I don't see it changing prior to the Fall when schools might risk re-evaluating their tools.
remcob 7y ago
Due to quarantine remote working, a lot of people are obliged to use Zoom. To some Zoom has a reputation of not taking security seriously, so they feel forced to compromise the security of their computers. Personally I think this reputation is justified. You can access Zoom meetings through a pure web interface without installing anything. The experience is somewhat reduced.
- zeeZ 7y ago
  And to get to the pure web interface you'll have to either know the magic URL or fight some more dark patterns, because they really want you to install their software.
andrepd 7y ago
Zoom has plenty to be shat on about, if anything I find most commenters on hn defending it (at least it "just works", etc).
izacus 7y ago
Probably everyone got bored from constant Google bashing so it's time to do something else before going back.
obmelvin 7y ago
I'm sure there are other reasons, but three understandable reasons I've seen: 1) The lack of e2e encryption despite trying to market themselves as having secure video chat. 2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22749805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22749805 (comment in this thread - they literally phish you) 3) https://twitter.com/c1truz_/status/1244737672930824193 https://twitter.com/c1truz_/status/1244737672930824193 abusing the traditional installation process on OSX EDIT: OK (2) may be a real system prompt - https://twitter.com/DigitalResist0r/status/1245281378293280768 https://twitter.com/DigitalResist0r/status/12452813782932807...? I didn't see anyone else in the twitter thread claim that it was using a real system dialog, so I'd still say it was poor practice of them to have such a shady looking system dialog.

TallGuyShort 7y ago

With more and more of the world, and especially Silicon Valley, being locked-down and quarantined, video conferencing is obviously going through the roof and Zoom seems to be winning. It's just getting a lot of attention, and any flaws are suddenly more impactful.

neltnerb 7y ago
On the one hand, all the attention (if pride is removed from the equation) should be win-win since remote workers might end up less spied on or hacked and zoom still makes a huge profit.
- DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
  if the best predictor of the future is past behavior then it doesn't look good.
  - neltnerb 7y ago
    But in answer to "why is HN shitting all over Zoom", I think the answer is "because they aren't doing good enough". There's no malice there (on the posters' side). If Zoom does better people won't have cause for shining a flashlight on their data privacy policies or security holes. We will see if Zoom grows up fast, since the momentum towards them is already so large I don't see it changing prior to the Fall when schools might risk re-evaluating their tools.

remcob 7y ago

Due to quarantine remote working, a lot of people are obliged to use Zoom. To some Zoom has a reputation of not taking security seriously, so they feel forced to compromise the security of their computers. Personally I think this reputation is justified. You can access Zoom meetings through a pure web interface without installing anything. The experience is somewhat reduced.

zeeZ 7y ago
And to get to the pure web interface you'll have to either know the magic URL or fight some more dark patterns, because they really want you to install their software.

andrepd 7y ago

Zoom has plenty to be shat on about, if anything I find most commenters on hn defending it (at least it "just works", etc).

izacus 7y ago

Probably everyone got bored from constant Google bashing so it's time to do something else before going back.

obmelvin 7y ago

I'm sure there are other reasons, but three understandable reasons I've seen: 1) The lack of e2e encryption despite trying to market themselves as having secure video chat. 2) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22749805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22749805 (comment in this thread - they literally phish you) 3) https://twitter.com/c1truz_/status/1244737672930824193 https://twitter.com/c1truz_/status/1244737672930824193 abusing the traditional installation process on OSX EDIT: OK (2) may be a real system prompt - https://twitter.com/DigitalResist0r/status/1245281378293280768 https://twitter.com/DigitalResist0r/status/12452813782932807...? I didn't see anyone else in the twitter thread claim that it was using a real system dialog, so I'd still say it was poor practice of them to have such a shady looking system dialog.