4 ms·

Even if you downloaded that app explicitly for key logging? That's crazy! :)

by milgra 4y ago

tourist2d 4y ago
... and the OS is supposed to determine your intent how?
- noisy_boy 4y ago
  By whatever mechanism the OS has to verify that you have the privilege. E.g. sudo. Not by raising a plethora of hurdles.
  - oefrha 4y ago
    An admin password prompt is hardly a deterrence to people doing stupid things. A young physics PhD friend of mine fell victim to a tech support scam, happily installing whatever spyware “Apple Support” told her to install over phone. That was a few years ago. The average person is too easily social engineered into allowing anything.
    - wutbrodo 4y ago
      Sure, I don't think either this[1] commenter or Ken Thompson were trying to say that the product category shouldn't exist. A computer is vastly overpowered for what the average user is capable of or interested in doing[2], which is why toy devices like iPads are so popular. I interpreted both of their comments as claiming that the direction MacOS is taking is a poor fit for those who still get value from powerful, general-purpose computers (myself very much included! I occasionally have the misfortune of using Macs, but am much much happier on systems where I can dig as deep into its layers as I need to solve my problems or scratch my itches) [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=35219381 https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=35219381 [2] Though I do think it's a minor tragedy that the increasing amount of guardrails has narrowed the opportunity for an inquisitive youngster to explore his computer's internals
    - unethical_ban 4y ago
      At what point do we say "that's her own fault"? How do we evolve to be alert to threats if we just hide them away and take agency from individuals?
    - noisy_boy 4y ago
      > The average person is too easily social engineered into allowing anything. How many "average" users you know who use sudo? At some point, the software needs to acknowledge users who are saying "I know what I'm doing and the risks, just let me do it" i.e. sudo.
  - kergonath 4y ago
    An admin check tells the OS that you are an admin, not that you know what the software does and that you are ok with CoolWallpapers logging all inputs.
    - noisy_boy 4y ago
      It also tells the OS that I have root privilege and I should know what to do with that power, not babysit me.

Even if you downloaded that app explicitly for key logging? That's crazy! :)

by milgra 4y ago

Even if you downloaded that app explicitly for key logging? That's crazy! :)

tourist2d 4y ago

... and the OS is supposed to determine your intent how?

noisy_boy 4y ago
By whatever mechanism the OS has to verify that you have the privilege. E.g. sudo. Not by raising a plethora of hurdles.
- oefrha 4y ago
  An admin password prompt is hardly a deterrence to people doing stupid things. A young physics PhD friend of mine fell victim to a tech support scam, happily installing whatever spyware “Apple Support” told her to install over phone. That was a few years ago. The average person is too easily social engineered into allowing anything.
  - wutbrodo 4y ago
    Sure, I don't think either this[1] commenter or Ken Thompson were trying to say that the product category shouldn't exist. A computer is vastly overpowered for what the average user is capable of or interested in doing[2], which is why toy devices like iPads are so popular. I interpreted both of their comments as claiming that the direction MacOS is taking is a poor fit for those who still get value from powerful, general-purpose computers (myself very much included! I occasionally have the misfortune of using Macs, but am much much happier on systems where I can dig as deep into its layers as I need to solve my problems or scratch my itches) [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=35219381 https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=35219381 [2] Though I do think it's a minor tragedy that the increasing amount of guardrails has narrowed the opportunity for an inquisitive youngster to explore his computer's internals
  - unethical_ban 4y ago
    At what point do we say "that's her own fault"? How do we evolve to be alert to threats if we just hide them away and take agency from individuals?
  - noisy_boy 4y ago
    > The average person is too easily social engineered into allowing anything. How many "average" users you know who use sudo? At some point, the software needs to acknowledge users who are saying "I know what I'm doing and the risks, just let me do it" i.e. sudo.
- kergonath 4y ago
  An admin check tells the OS that you are an admin, not that you know what the software does and that you are ok with CoolWallpapers logging all inputs.
  - noisy_boy 4y ago
    It also tells the OS that I have root privilege and I should know what to do with that power, not babysit me.