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The thing is open source programs often build their success on the fact they are free, get a lot users quickly, feedback and discussions on their forums on how
by laurent123456 11y ago
The thing is open source programs often build their success on the fact they are free, get a lot users quickly, feedback and discussions on their forums on how to improve it, free translations from users, sometime patches, etc. Then when they suddenly exploit all this by adding ads, people are understandably upset.
It's just a fact of life that open source software won't make you rich. Either they are ok with it, or they create a commercial product from the start. But adding crapware afterwards is not a proper solution.
- tonyedgecombe 11y agoI'm not trying to justify it, just observing that when you don't pay anything then you can expect this sort of behaviour.
- zouhair 11y agoYes, paid software riddled with malware, rootkits and other niceties is unheard for. Bad people do bad things. Paying or not paying has nothing to do with it.
- tonyedgecombe 11y agoI disagree, paying customers wouldn't put up with a malware infested version of FileZilla, this stuff only really exists at the "free" end of the market.
- douche 11y agoThis is empirically false. Video games have shipped with highly-intrusive rootkits and malware disguised as DRM for years, and it tends to be worse on the higher-end products, vs the shovelware/free-to-play/open-source.
- tonyedgecombe 11y agoYou can find a few counter examples but they never last because the commercial pressure is too high, the obvious example is Sony, are they still deploying rootkits? Lenovo is another example that has started cleaning up its act. Would these companies change if their only source of funds was the malware? I don't think so.
- asddubs 11y agolenovo is still bundling crap with their laptops. nothing has changed, they got rid of the specific thing that caused the outrage, that's all.
- Intermernet 11y agoNot really, It's just that it's obvious at the free end of the market. Proprietary software can do whatever it feels like on your computer and you would be hard pressed to know until it was too late. A few large companies have been implicated in root-kits / backdoors / random horrible deliberate security practices. These are probably just as destructive as replacing your browser search bar or installing some fake AV software. Free isn't the problem. Bundling crap-ware with otherwise audit-able open source software is the problem.
- zouhair 11y agoAnd who puts up with it in the "free" end of the market?