Comment by cronjobber
8 years ago
Google introduced and normalized the spyware/adware business model. Nothing but fawning adoration from programmers.
Microsoft copied the model for operating systems. Token resistance from programmers.
Kite copies the model for programming tools. Too late, programmers.
The problem is not that they built some product and monetized with ads. The problem is they injected themselves into a product they didn't build. Worse yet, they're open source projects.
If you can't see the distinction between this and the examples you mention, you really don't qualify to make sarcastic comments.
Exactly. And don't forget about the proliferation of the internet-of-shit devices, which are blasting everything they can learn about your home network to every company involved.
HN is specifically geared towards people who make a living coding things in the new "surveillance economy." This particular example (to go along with the dotnet command line issue) is just a difference in degree, not kind. They're mad that someone else is abusing their trust and privacy.
Welcome to the party, pal!
Let's not forget the "exploit open source/free labor" component of a key demographic of HN's audience.
I'm pretty sure that the only OS that don't have adware/spyware in them at this point are some Linux distros (maybe) and Unix.
Or....[maybe not?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRsgkdfYJ8)
There are tons of attack vectors that spyware can enter linux through :)
"Unix" isn't really a specific OS. So yeah, there's probably no spyware in it.
By Unix I mean FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD.
> Nothing but fawning adoration from programmers.
That is a narrow way to look at things and is not the full picture. Plenty of people protested and still protest Google's unethical business practices.
Brand power! I get totally nauseated every time tools/frameworks/programming languages get adopted just because they have the Google brand on it, when there are perfectly better alternatives.