4 ms·

how would open source software prevent this? I have an open source Buffalo router that shipped with DD-WRT. it has a service onboard where I can run an alterna

by munin 14y ago

how would open source software prevent this? I have an open source Buffalo router that shipped with DD-WRT. it has a service onboard where I can run an alternate SSID as a free wifi hotspot, and software on the router will inject a frame into clients web browsers to serve ads. evil? yep. on by default? no. implemented entirely with open source software? yes. what would happen if this feature shipped in an open-source router on-by-default and without the software button to click to change it? are you seriously advocating to consumers that they download the source code to their router, change some #defines to remove the code that injects ads, recompile it, and reload it onto their router?

wpietri 14y ago
Why would most consumers need to do that? It only takes one HNish person to get the code, fix it, and release something that consumers can easily use.
- munin 14y ago
  reflashing router firmware is still something out of reach to most consumers. it would probably not even occur to most consumers that the ads in their web browser would be something they could change.
  - derleth 14y ago
    > reflashing router firmware is still something out of reach to most consumers I don't know. I'm always amazed at what a few good blog posts can do if enough people see them.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    You could ask/pay/sleep with a person of your choosing and have them do it for you. To the second point, if you had a world with mostly open source software then people would start to assume that things like that could be done. It's like arguing that you should design cars to be only serviceable by the manufacturer simply because not everyone is a mechanic.
DougBTX 14y ago
The argument is that downloading a compiled version of the software patched in that way is something that people would be willing to do to remove ads, but that re-implementing the software from scratch just to remove ads is not something that anyone would do.

by munin 14y ago

wpietri 14y ago

Why would most consumers need to do that? It only takes one HNish person to get the code, fix it, and release something that consumers can easily use.

munin 14y ago
reflashing router firmware is still something out of reach to most consumers. it would probably not even occur to most consumers that the ads in their web browser would be something they could change.
- derleth 14y ago
  > reflashing router firmware is still something out of reach to most consumers I don't know. I'm always amazed at what a few good blog posts can do if enough people see them.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  You could ask/pay/sleep with a person of your choosing and have them do it for you. To the second point, if you had a world with mostly open source software then people would start to assume that things like that could be done. It's like arguing that you should design cars to be only serviceable by the manufacturer simply because not everyone is a mechanic.

DougBTX 14y ago

The argument is that downloading a compiled version of the software patched in that way is something that people would be willing to do to remove ads, but that re-implementing the software from scratch just to remove ads is not something that anyone would do.