In a world where even Sourceforge bundles malware (why dignify it by calling it pupware?), is the era of recommending cool software over? I thought one of the talking points of open source software was that it was more secure because you had access to the source code? How about the source code to that malware?
In the "good old days" of unwanted software bundling, you could just people to pay attention because the installt going to try to install something, just hit Decline, Decline, and just say no to the extra stuff. Hey that still works with Java and the Ask Toolbar! But nowadays with most other stuff, you can decline everything that pops up and still end up spending half a day un-junking all your web browsers. And forget recommending software to less technical people, I was recently asked to recommend an antivirus, I recommended Avast, but I ended up being the one installing it. It's a good thing to because the direct link from Avast's web site goes to cnet downloads, and most people are going to just click straight on that cnet bundleware installer. If he had done that, my friend would have been mad at me for getting more malware on his system. (I was able to find a link on the Avast forums to a post with a non-bundleware installer for Avast).
When a developer agrees to this, I no longer trust the developer anymore. Once you decide it is OK to bundle malware with your software, the bundling of malware becomes the primary purpose of your software. I know some developers write software for free because they simply love to make cool software. Maybe over time, some developers feel like they've been burned by users making impossible demands for the developers' limited time, and this is their way to get revenge against ALL of the users, and in their minds, they are finally getting paid for their work. Thankfully some developers have still rejected that mindset.
The fact that you can't even trust Sourceforge now pisses me off to no end. This is how we are going to forced into app stores for everything, I guess. I'm grateful that DC will never be a party to these shenanigans.
