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Comment by xattt

10 hours ago

Can this not be blocked with file permissions? Or a symlink to a file in a ro folder?

Most software installers demand to be run as root/Administrator.

The fact that this is largely seen as acceptable or even sensible is rather silly in this day and age.

  • Yes, and when apps do request many permissios, I just estimate how reputable the company is. A name like Adobe must be ok, right?

    • >Yes, and when apps do request many permissios

      Most windows apps aren't sandboxed so the concept of "permissions" doesn't make any sense. The most there is is "asks to run as admin", but most installers do.

  • Software wants to be installed in C:\Program Files so that other software can’t modify their installation without admin permissions. Of course to do that your installer needs to be run as administrator which makes the whole thing rather silly.

    • The fundamental issue is that installers shouldn’t exist

      There’s no need to have an executable program just to essentially unzip some files to disk

      1 reply →

    • Software installed through the Windows Store seem immutable enough even though they live in the user's AppData.

      At least the system prevented me from seeing or modifying the files the last time I tried. I did not try very hard, admittedly, but by contrast modifying something in C:\Program Files is just one UAC confirmation away.