Author Topic: Directory Opus 11 Released! (Read 97632 times)

mouser · « **Reply #75 on:** March 07, 2014, 07:06 PM »

i tend to be like xtabber and avoid software that uses a licensing system that is per computer. it's not just that i don't want to pay for each computer i have, it's that i don't want to deal with any software that is going to make me jump through some painful hoops if i try to move it from one computer to another, etc.

wraith808 · « **Reply #76 on:** March 07, 2014, 07:27 PM »

In general, if they have de-registration and such, I agree. DO is actually pretty easy to move and I've done it several times. It doesn't deal with machine footprints and calling home, which is the part I hate.

Innuendo · « **Reply #77 on:** March 08, 2014, 08:52 AM »

-xtabber (March 07, 2014, 06:30 PM)

As a matter of principle, I decided some years ago that I would avoid software that places arbitrary restrictions on how I can use it on my own computer(s).[/quote]

I, too, hate software that is licensed by computer. However, I lucked into a ridiculous Christmas deal offered by DOpus's german distributor a couple years ago. They were selling it cheaper than BDJ ever has & this deal even included the USB Export and Advanced FTP add-ons bundled in for no extra cost.

Having a license that let me use the program on two PCs (the second does not have to be a laptop) and a portable install on a flash drive sounded reasonable enough for me to make the purchase.

Innuendo · « **Reply #78 on:** March 08, 2014, 09:07 AM »

It doesn't deal with machine footprints and calling home, which is the part I hate.
-wraith808 (March 07, 2014, 07:27 PM)

While DOpus does phone home you can block it in your firewall from doing so & DOpus will keep functioning normally with no complaints last I checked which means you could even use DOpus on a computer with no internet connection and suffer no ill effects.

DOpus isn't perfect...no program is, but it's one of the few file managers that are fairly close to perfect. The best part is they are very receptive to suggestions through their forum (unlike another file manager who shall remain nameless). As a matter of fact, Peter in the OP was talking about the 'venerable' descript.ion file format being supported. Guess which DC user convinced them to use that format rather than their own proprietary one?

What's remarkable about that is at the time I wasn't even a registered user of DOpus and it came up in an email conversation with Dr. Greg Perry when I was trying to angle for a discount.

That they would listen to me, an unknown non-customer, made me sit up and take notice. Speaking of discounts, there's never any reason to buy DOpus at full price. Send them a polite, respectful email and they'll happily give you a discount for 25% off just for you taking the time to take interest in them by reaching out.

myarmor · « **Reply #79 on:** March 08, 2014, 10:03 AM »

While DOpus does phone home you can block it in your firewall from doing so & DOpus will keep functioning normally with no complaints last I checked which means you could even use DOpus on a computer with no internet connection and suffer no ill effects.
-Innuendo (March 08, 2014, 09:07 AM)

If "check for news and product updates" is enabled it "phones home" to check that once a week (or whatever your setting says).
You can disable it if you want to.

wraith808 · « **Reply #80 on:** March 08, 2014, 11:04 AM »

If "check for news and product updates" is enabled it "phones home" to check that once a week (or whatever your setting says).
You can disable it if you want to.
-myarmor (March 08, 2014, 10:03 AM)

Right. I don't call that "phoning home". I call that "checking for news and product updates". Especially since you can easily disable it.

40hz · « **Reply #81 on:** March 08, 2014, 01:14 PM »

If "check for news and product updates" is enabled it "phones home" to check that once a week (or whatever your setting says).
You can disable it if you want to.
-myarmor (March 08, 2014, 10:03 AM)

Right. I don't call that "phoning home". I call that "checking for news and product updates". Especially since you can easily disable it.
-wraith808 (March 08, 2014, 11:04 AM)

Agree w/Wraith. "Check for news,updates, and offers" is a normal and expected feature in many software packages - and one that a many licensed users appreciate having. And since (in DO at least) it can be easily disabled, I see no fault anywhere in providing such a feature.

I consider "phoning home" to be more something that connects to a server somewhere, but provides no direct benefit to the customer when it does so. And I'll include software that does regular license verifications (like MSGA) on non-subscription based software in that category.

Innuendo · « **Reply #82 on:** March 08, 2014, 02:18 PM »

Right. I don't call that "phoning home". I call that "checking for news and product updates". Especially since you can easily disable it.
-wraith808 (March 08, 2014, 11:04 AM)

I know the difference between checking for updates and phoning home and I'm here to tell you that the program indeed does phone home. Yes, if you have "checking for news and and product updates" enabled, it will happily check a server located at si-sv2378.com which is a is registered to a company called Server Intellect. They are a webhosting company and where DOpus downloads news & updates from. Turn off the setting in preferences and this server will not be contacted again.

However, regardless whether or not you have that setting enabled, every so often Directory Opus will reach out to a server located at cbf02m01-in-fl121.1e100.net. It appears e100.net is registered to a company called MarkMonitor.com. Browsing there it seems to be a company devoted to brand protection and fighting piracy. Directory Opus phones home there to check for blacklisted serials and such and if relevant information is found then appropriate action is taken.

So I will say again, Directory Opus does phone home regardless of what the user has set in preferences. This behavior may have changed since the release of v11, but this was what occurred with v10.

I would not have stated

40hz · « **Reply #83 on:** March 08, 2014, 03:38 PM »

@Innuendo - most interesting!

If you block it from accessing the website with your firewall, or disable the relevant process's access to the web via a policy, does DO stop working?

wraith808 · « **Reply #84 on:** March 08, 2014, 03:57 PM »

Right. I don't call that "phoning home". I call that "checking for news and product updates". Especially since you can easily disable it.
-wraith808 (March 08, 2014, 11:04 AM)

I know the difference between checking for updates and phoning home and I'm here to tell you that the program indeed does phone home. Yes, if you have "checking for news and and product updates" enabled, it will happily check a server located at si-sv2378.com which is a is registered to a company called Server Intellect. They are a webhosting company and where DOpus downloads news & updates from. Turn off the setting in preferences and this server will not be contacted again.

However, regardless whether or not you have that setting enabled, every so often Directory Opus will reach out to a server located at cbf02m01-in-fl121.1e100.net. It appears e100.net is registered to a company called MarkMonitor.com. Browsing there it seems to be a company devoted to brand protection and fighting piracy. Directory Opus phones home there to check for blacklisted serials and such and if relevant information is found then appropriate action is taken.

So I will say again, Directory Opus does phone home regardless of what the user has set in preferences. This behavior may have changed since the release of v11, but this was what occurred with v10.

I would not have stated

-Innuendo (March 08, 2014, 02:18 PM)

I meant no offense. I've not noticed the same behaviour. I have version 9, so perhaps there's a difference in versions. But I run all of my requests through OpenDNS, and searched through my logs and see no mention of that particular domain.

Josh · « **Reply #85 on:** March 08, 2014, 04:05 PM »

Let me just leave this here.

https://support.goog.../answer/174717?hl=en

Innuendo · « **Reply #86 on:** March 08, 2014, 08:01 PM »

If you block it from accessing the website with your firewall, or disable the relevant process's access to the web via a policy, does DO stop working?
-40hz (March 08, 2014, 03:38 PM)

Like I said when I first mentioned the phoning home, blocking DOpus's access from either or both domains does not impede its operation at all. It will happily function at 100% capacity.

Innuendo · « **Reply #87 on:** March 08, 2014, 08:07 PM »

I meant no offense. I've not noticed the same behaviour. I have version 9, so perhaps there's a difference in versions. But I run all of my requests through OpenDNS, and searched through my logs and see no mention of that particular domain.
-wraith808 (March 08, 2014, 03:57 PM)

No offense taken!

You & I have frequented these parts long enough not to take anything the other says personally, I'd hope! I did not test v9 so it indeed may exhibit different behavior.

Innuendo · « **Reply #88 on:** March 08, 2014, 08:10 PM »

Let me just leave this here.

https://support.goog.../answer/174717?hl=en
-Josh (March 08, 2014, 04:05 PM)

And here's a cut-and-paste from whois.com:

Domain Name: 1E100.NET
Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com
Name Server: NS1.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS2.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS3.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS4.GOOGLE.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Status: serverDeleteProhibited
Status: serverTransferProhibited
Status: serverUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 15-sep-2010
Creation Date: 25-sep-2009
Expiration Date: 25-sep-2019

Josh · « **Reply #89 on:** March 08, 2014, 08:25 PM »

MarkMonitor is the REGISTRAR not the OWNER. Google is the REGISTRANT (Owner)

Josh · « **Reply #90 on:** March 08, 2014, 08:27 PM »

Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-05-02T21:00:00-0700
Registrar: MarkMonitor, Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 292
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.2083895740
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Domain Administrator
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Registrant Street: One Microsoft Way,
Registrant City: Redmond
Registrant State/Province: WA
Registrant Postal Code: 98052
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.4258828080
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +1.4259367329
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
-Microsoft.com whois information

4wd · « **Reply #91 on:** March 08, 2014, 09:20 PM »

This behavior may have changed since the release of v11, ...
-Innuendo (March 08, 2014, 02:18 PM)

V11 contacts 173.194.72.121 = markmonitor.com = Google

ARIN

NetRange   173.194.0.0 - 173.194.255.255
CIDR   173.194.0.0/16
Name   GOOGLE
Handle   NET-173-194-0-0-1
Parent   NET173 (NET-173-0-0-0-0)
Net Type   Direct Allocation
Origin AS   AS15169
Organization   Google Inc. (GOGL)

Josh · « **Reply #92 on:** March 08, 2014, 09:28 PM »

C:\Program Files (x86)\FindAndRunRobot>whois 173.194.72.121

Whois v1.11 - Domain information lookup utility
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
Copyright (C) 2005-2012 Mark Russinovich

Connecting to NET.whois-servers.net...
Connecting to whois.markmonitor.com...

Domain ID:
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar URL: http://www.markmonitor.com
Updated Date: 2013-10-29T11:31:53-0700
Creation Date: 2009-09-24T22:40:03-0700
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2019-09-24T22:40:03-0700
Registrar: MarkMonitor, Inc.
Registrar IANA ID: 292
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.2083895740
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: DNS Admin
Registrant Organization: Google Inc.
Registrant Street: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Registrant City: Mountain View
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 94043
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.6502530000
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: +1.6506188571
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: DNS Admin
Admin Organization: Google Inc.
Admin Street: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Admin City: Mountain View
Admin State/Province: CA
Admin Postal Code: 94043
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.6502530000
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax: +1.6506188571
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: [email protected]
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: DNS Admin
Tech Organization: Google Inc.
Tech Street: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Tech City: Mountain View
Tech State/Province: CA
Tech Postal Code: 94043
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.6502530000
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: +1.6506188571
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: [email protected]
Name Server: ns4.google.com
Name Server: ns2.google.com
Name Server: ns1.google.com
Name Server: ns3.google.com
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
-Whois 173.194.72.121

Server: resolver1.opendns.com
Address: 208.67.222.222

Name: tf-in-f121.1e100.net
Address: 173.194.72.121
-nslookup 173.194.72.121

Innuendo · « **Reply #93 on:** March 08, 2014, 11:29 PM »

MarkMonitor is the REGISTRAR not the OWNER. Google is the REGISTRANT (Owner)
-Josh (March 08, 2014, 08:25 PM)

Then I stand corrected on that. I was wrong, but the question remains why does Directory Opus contact Google when update checks are turned off?

If you won't believe me, perhaps you'll believe Leo and Jon of GPSoft:

http://resource.dopu....php?f=3&t=19856

User: "My licensed copy of Directory Opus phones home no matter what. I had to block it in my firewall!"

GPSoft: "And what problem is it causing you?"

Jibz · « **Reply #94 on:** March 09, 2014, 03:02 AM »

Nice find. From that thread, there is also a link to the FAQ which states:

...
When verifying the integrity of the program.

This last item involves the various methods Opus uses to protect against viruses and illegal use of the software (DRM). You can block these using a firewall if you wish - Opus does not attempt to "evade" or "get around" your firewall in any way. Legitimate users have no reason to be concerned by this activity, and none of your personal information is ever transmitted in this way.

Personally, I don't really mind the occasional registration check as long as the developers are open about it. I found it more interesting to see how they handle customer support in that thread.

Innuendo · « **Reply #95 on:** March 09, 2014, 09:31 AM »

Personally, I don't really mind the occasional registration check as long as the developers are open about it. I found it more interesting to see how they handle customer support in that thread.
-Jibz (March 09, 2014, 03:02 AM)

Yes, that thread could be seen as an eye-opener in more than one way. I just wanted to make sure people knew that Directory Opus phoned home when the general belief is that it doesn't. My chosen career path dictates I keep abreast of stuff like this...I'm just glad I didn't have to pull out WireShark & a PowerPoint presentation to make my point.

My research backs up what the FAQ states. Even if you cut Directory Opus off from the internet completely none of the functionality will be diminished & you won't notice any difference in its operation.

wraith808 · « **Reply #96 on:** March 09, 2014, 11:57 AM »

I wonder when they added that. As I said, I have 9, don't have it blocked from the internet, and don't see any access like this. Unless it's so infrequent that I just missed it.

Innuendo · « **Reply #97 on:** March 09, 2014, 04:27 PM »

I wonder when they added that. As I said, I have 9, don't have it blocked from the internet, and don't see any access like this. Unless it's so infrequent that I just missed it.
-wraith808 (March 09, 2014, 11:57 AM)

It's been a part of DOpus for as far back as v6.xx. You can do a Google search and find many forum posts across the internet from software pirates wondering why their previously working serial got blacklisted all of a sudden one day when they fired up DOpus.

It's easy to miss because DOpus doesn't phone home every day...or even every week. I never was curious enough to observe over a long period to find out what the frequency is, but I'd wager it's something along the lines of 'once in a blue moon'.

I absolutely hate software that phones home, but since I can block it with no ill effects I choose to ignore that it does...or at least tries.

superboyac · « **Reply #98 on:** July 09, 2014, 04:57 PM »

I'm in 2 minds about this upgrade. It's hard to see what killer improvement is there, especially when it costs AUS$50 for the upgrade.
-katykaty (March 05, 2014, 01:21 PM)

I was wondering about the same thing. I'm having a hard time finding the killer feature for me. I consider myself a basic user of Dopus (I don't even customise it myself, just use Andy's setup), but the new features seem to be targeting the super-sophisticated user that can write their own scripts and customise the hell out of the interface.
-dr_andus (March 05, 2014, 03:53 PM)

omg...this Andy guy (the dearopus) is awesome! His customized setup is beautiful.

I love this freaking dopus program. Sadly (or not?) I spend more active time with Dopus than any other thing or person in my life.

So I followed Andy's instructions and used a lot of his customizations. I also added some flat icons I found for the default stuff from the dopus forums. I have my own custom status bar. It's basically Dopus pron.

dr_andus · « **Reply #99 on:** December 14, 2014, 06:40 PM »

I'm a Dopus 10 user. I'm tempted by the latest upgrade offer, so I've been trying out v. 11.

My first impression is that it is running quite a bit slower (or is a bit more resource hungry), at least concerning the following operation. In the past, when I'd download a file with Firefox, the downloaded file would show up immediately in the download folder when open in Dopus. With v. 11 however I thought something was wrong because I was looking all over the place in the folder for the latest downloaded file and couldn't find it. It was only after some considerable time that the file eventually showed up.

Has anyone else had that experience?