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Google Earth 5.0 Silently Changes Update Policy
mario_grgic writes "Recently announced Google Earth version 5.0 adds interesting new features like images of ocean floors and some detailed images of Mars. But it also brings another unwelcome change for Mac OS X users. Google Software update daemon is installed when the application is launched for the first time. The user is greeted with an uninformative message that does not really explain what is about to happen. After the user accepts, Google Update Agent is downloaded and installed. It updates all Google applications and not just Google Earth. Also, it runs on an unchangeable schedule of its own (instead of, say, only when one of Google's apps is launched), consuming system resources. Worst of all it can not be simply removed, since it is downloaded and installed again once Google Earth is launched. Users really have only two choices: live with it, or uninstall all Google apps. There's a discussion about the updater in this Google Group, including details of a way to disable it (not for the faint of heart). So fellow Slashdotters, has Google crossed the line?"
I don't see what the big deal is. Apple installs a similar program on Windows systems when you install iTunes. Heck, I still have no idea what Bonjour is. The only real annoyance I find is that it keeps asking me to download Safari whenever I upgrade iTunes.
The only way to tell the difference between a hamster and a gerbil is that the hamster has more white meat.
"Wow, that's just scary. Wait, I get it... I'm feeding a troll, right?"
No, I simply refuse to be a toy of big money.
"And they're not. People are voluntarily installing the software Google provided and agreeing to the terms they set."
Then I demand the rights to name your firstborn. I can if I state it in a EULA right? No company has the right to being abusive and you can NEVER relinquish certain rights, even if you wanted to. I can't sell mysrlf into slavery and I can't give Google eternal and everlasting control over my computer, EULA or not.
"If Google has something, and you want to use it, you're gonna have to play by the rules they set for it, or not use their shit."
If companies want to do business in a country, they shouldn't treat it's inhabitants like shit. That, or they should leave. They don't have the right to do business with people the way THEY like but how the goverment likes it.
I see this as a typically American point of view. If a goverment tries to do anything, it's evil, fascist, communist, stealing etc. When a company does it, it is seen as their right and if you don't like it you should stop doing business with them.
Personally, I expect that companies restrain themselves or they should be restrained by governments. Companies that decide to axe your rights should have their own rights axed too.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.