Sourceforge spreading "BundleWare" via modified installers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2015, 01:28:03 pm
content: I just abandoned installing FileZilla on a Wondows pc recently, as the installer wanted to install some "BundleWare".I actually didn't think much about it until today, where i stumbled across this (new for me), story about sourceforge"Just out of kindness", have begun to "Mirror" projects that already have abandoned sourceforge. Due to their (SF's) addware installers.http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/05/sourceforge-grabs-gimp-for-windows-account-wraps-installer-in-bundle-pushing-adware/?comments=1&start=240And ie gimp. (Where the windows author asks sf to remove their mirror, and sf says they're just mirroring to be kind)http://www.gimp.org/Other "sf-xx takeovers"http://sourceforge.net/projects/ekiga.mirror/http://sourceforge.net/projects/thunderbird.mirror/?source=directoryNotice the "brought to you by sf-editor x" with h means that sf has taken over the account, and there might be "BundleWare" added into the installer.These are prob. taken over, or "mirrored as sf says", as these accounts now maintains the sf page.http://sourceforge.net/u/sf-editor1/profile/http://sourceforge.net/u/sf-editor3/profile/I have been very happy about sf, and used it a lot for downloading a lot of stuff.But only because i didn't have to think about bundled "BundleWare in the installers" , now i'll 100% check the "Project website" before downloading from sf.I'm not in the high risk zone, as im mostly linux based , but it annoys me that even sf is being exploitet to make $$$ now.Note that : sourceforge and /. apparently have the same owner.Watch out when downloading via installers from sourceforge.And btw:Rumours are that the Filezilla authors even accepted sf's offer of getting $$$ from the bundled "BundleWare" in theinstallers. That's prob why they have the addware in the installer, but still maintains it them selves.Come onSFdon't sneak addware in. Be honest about it.Apparently even M$ is now classifying the "ask.com" stuff from the Java installer as malware./Bingo

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2015, 09:44:57 pm
content: Yeah, no place to hide and this stinks.I understand why they need the $ to keep going. If no one donates, they have the choice of either shut down or find some means to stay on.AdWare as a choice is ok, but I don't like forced install and make us do the uninstall. This crossed the line in my opinion.I do miss the internet as it was say 5-8 years ago when there was a lot less video/animated ads. It was far less intrusive. I now frequency flip the WiFi off - once the page's text is loaded, I flip off the WiFi so those audio/video ads stops intruding into my reading.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2015, 11:18:26 pm
content: You can download Filezilla without crap by going to their official page :https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=clientThere, click on "Show additional download options" and you get all files without crap.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2015, 11:56:21 pm
content: Quote from: Rick Law on June 14, 2015, 09:44:57 pmInstalling an ad-blocker works like a charm. No more 'Las Vegas' light show on your screen.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 10:40:10 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on June 14, 2015, 11:56:21 pmHow people surf the web without one is beyond me. I turn it off for sites that don't have annoying ads that I want to support. (A very small list)IIRC Cnet/download.com are doing the same thing. So be careful of bloatware. And don't get me started on Java updates - but you can turn it off - but it's hidden in some settings somewhere. I forget where - google for it.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 12:37:03 pm
content: Use 7-zip to open the installer, you can extract the original one from it since they just wrap the extra crap around it.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 01:14:42 pm
content: Quote from: george graves on June 15, 2015, 10:40:10 amIt's not just about annoying ads, also about trackers. I don't want to be tracked by two dozen marketing companies. I've got also a flash blocker plugin, which allows me to run flash content manually.Quote from: george graves on June 15, 2015, 10:40:10 amThe mostly used ways for attacking your computer are Flashplayer, AdobeReader and Java.

author: Karel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 01:45:59 pm
content: Have a look here:http://www.howtogeek.com/218764/warning-don%E2%80%99t-download-software-from-sourceforge-if-you-can-help-it/The situation on windows is pretty bad. Almost al downloadsites are serving malware (for windows). Some of them are smart no to do anything when it detects that windows is running virtualized.And don't think that this only happens to the computer dummies. It happens also to "IT professionals".And still some people claim that windows is an easy to use and safe os...Thanks to many years of mono-culture on computerdesktops.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 04:17:59 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on June 14, 2015, 11:56:21 pmIs adblock plus the same thing?I had it for a while, but it was blocking the newsclips at a news site. So I abandoned it.

author: Bob F.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 09:23:50 pm
content: Quote from: Rick Law on June 15, 2015, 04:17:59 pmYou can whitelist sites that you don't want it to block - just a click of the mouse.Like the above, I have no idea how anyone browses the web without it - masses of popups (often for scammy gambling sites), highly animated dross flashing away while I am trying to read something - the annoyances are endless.Whitelist the sites with reasonable adverts you want to support and never have the hassle of having to hide 1/3rd of the browser window off the edge of the screen again. Not available for Internet Explorer I believe, but Firefox & Chrome have plugins. Watch out for scams tho - always get Adblock Plus from the Mozilla plugins page for Firefox, not some random download site.Add something like Ghostery to block the trackers and life is so much more pleasant...Cheers, Bob.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 10:16:11 pm
content: I don't use Adblock because some websites I use won't work properly with it, and I'm too lazy to whitelist.I do use Flashblock, a Firefox extension that prevents flash from loading and instead replaces every flash with a square or rectangle that can be clicked on to be loaded. I whitelist youtube and other sites i use often but otherwise all other sites load much faster.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 10:23:30 pm
content: I recall they were caught doing this a while back. They dropped it because of the bad publicity but here it is again...

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 10:26:17 pm
content: This talk reminded Idiocracy. Actually seems soon we'll be there.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2015, 10:30:45 pm
content: Quote from: Bob F. on June 15, 2015, 09:23:50 pmQuote from: mariush on June 15, 2015, 10:16:11 pmYeah, I got lazy. I restore from my "clean" disk image about monthly. Like Mariush, I got lazy with redo the white list. So stuff like AdBlock+ which I typically left off my image doesn't get (re)setup upon install, and then often got forgotten entirely.Now I that I am reminded, I should give it another try.Speaking of Ad-Blocking, see this timely article in The Economist this week.http://www.economist.com/news/business/21653644-internet-users-are-increasingly-blocking-ads-including-their-mobiles-block-shockMay be SourceForge should take a note from the Guardian. Quoting from the article in the above link:Ad-blocking visitors to the website of the Guardian, a British daily, for example, are greeted with the message:"We notice that you’ve got an ad-blocker switched on. Perhaps you’d like to support the Guardian another way?"Perhaps SourceForge should ask:"Would you like to see a presentation from our sponsors or would you like to load some trial ware with your download?"