Slashdot Mirror
Gator Will Replace Ads On Sites
Bill Dimm writes "This CNet article says that a new version of Gator, a browser plug-in for managing passwords that also can display pop-up ads for competing products when you visit web sites, is being developed that will launch its own ads over top of the banner ads on the sites you visit. The software achieves wide distribution by bundling (much like TopText) with file-sharing utilities, with over 18 million installations of the current version claimed on their web site."
No, being a Linux user you won't have Gator, but you'll still have the rest of the banner ads.
Seriously, why does every single story on Slashdot have to turn into a Linux and Microsoft discussion? Right now there are less than 10 comments and already both Linux and Microsoft have been mentioned.
In my opinion, Gator is a virus. It is attached to the software installations for other products, and it usually installs itself on user's systems without their permission. When you try to remove it, it creates a copy of itself so it is not deleted.
Opinions on Gator aside, calling it a virus is just ridiculous. A program is not a virus solely because it installs programs without permission and/or is difficult to delete. By that definition, my little cousins are viruses (albiet cute ones).
-Bill
FWIW, also by that definition, so is Windows when you buy a complete system and can't get the disk bare, Netscape when it installs the Free AOL trial, Internet Explorer, etc.
SlashSig Karma: Excellent (mostly affected by moderatio
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the joke is, it dosen't uninstall even when you press uninstall, it still leaves its dlls active in the system
This sort of behaviour really annoys me. I suppose we're supposed to think "ah gee an honest mistake .. something went wrong". Yeah right. Its like that crap RealPlayer. When I installed it, it specifically had options for whether or not you want RealPlayer to run on startup and sit in the taskbar. I *made sure* that this option was not selected. It completely ignores the option, it runs on startup anyway and sits in the taskbar. Its entirely deliberate behaviour. I don't mean to generalise, but this sort of obnoxious pushiness seems to specifically be some thing with American (read "USA") companies. Companies elsewhere tend to prefer to try other tactics to try gain dominance, for example "trying to build a better product than your competitors". Sometimes I get the feeling that American companies try to do absolutely everything they possibly can to try gain dominance - except build a better product.