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The definition of "bloat" - RE: Software

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Target:
So, is Nero itself a bloated application or is the nero SUITE bloated? I would like to see a burner only option too, but I dont consider nero ON ITS OWN to be bloated. Quite the contrary. Yes, I have to download ~200mb of data, but I only install about 20-30.
-Josh (February 07, 2008, 07:15 PM)
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this is bloat, ie Nero install 20-30M, ImgBurn 1M (burnaware Free ed - 3m, Burn At Once (an old fave) - 6M, small CD writer - 330K!!).  Granted ImgBurn only writes images, but there are plenty of alternatives

I suspect that with a bit of hunting around you could get pretty much all the functionality from several apps that you get in the Nero suite with a total install size comparable with the burner (20-30M)

Any why would anyone (regardless of their available bandwidth) want to D/L a 200M installer to get a 30M app??

Target
(not a Nero fan...)

f0dder:
Granted ImgBurn only writes images, but there are plenty of alternatives-Target (February 07, 2008, 08:28 PM)
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It can also create images (and can write directly to CD, without first creating a .iso then using that). It's also capable of burning/fxing-up VIDEO_TS folder so it works on standalone DVD players... and a few more things. It's not quite as fully featured as "regular" burning apps, but it works for almost all my burning needs - I don't even have DeepBurner or anything else installed at the moment :)

Target:
yup, and it's portable too :Thmbsup: but I was thinking of the bit about writing audio CD's...

Target

nosh:
Disenchanted Nero fans should look at (the unofficial) Nero Lite & Micro, weighing in at 35 & 13 MB respectively (these figures may be for slightly older versions.) I personally prefer a burner that lets me directly create standalone encrypted media - something like Power2Go, though the CD Lock end result is a lot more transparent/user-friendly.

Bloat, IMO, isn't necessarily defined by an application that starts doing something out of its essential realm, as long as it does all those things well - one man's bloat is after all another man's TC. It can simply be something that sticks to task and is overly self-indulgent.

~The House of Bloat~ (I cannot stress how NOT Safe For Work this is!)
http://tinyurl.com/2rjx2p

Renegade:
PowerBASIC - #BLOAT metastatement

DOH!  ;D
-Mark0 (February 07, 2008, 12:43 PM)
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Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha~! :D :D :D :D

That was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny! And so true!

Ok - starting from scratch...

WHERE DOES BLOAT COME FROM?

1) Refusal to give up support for old operating systems/software/hardware
2) Marketing department pushing for new features because the competition has them
3) Speed to market pressures and choice of development tools

Those are the 2 biggest that I can think of.

Why is application X so much larger? #1 (Windows 98)

Why does Nero have an audio editor and all that stuff? #2 (e.g. Blaze Audio, Windows Media Player, etc.)

Why do all of my applications require a minimum disk footprint of 24MB? #3 (.NET is about 23MB or so)   (.NET Rocks!)

Often the best thing to do is to just abandon old things and move forward, or to spin off new functionality as a new product or add-in.

However, at the end of the day, software is NOT technology driven... It's market driven. Each of the 3 things above is a consequence or direct result of market pressures on developers to fill needs. You need to keep your costs down, so often it's just easier to build in new things into an existing application. Launching a new product can be very dangerous. etc. etc. etc.

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