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The Next Java Update Could Make Yahoo Your Default Search Provider

Posted by samzenpus on from the feature-not-a-bug dept.

itwbennett writes: At the company's shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced a partnership with Oracle that could result in Yahoo becoming your default search provider in your browser. Starting this month, when users are prompted to update to the next version of Java, they'll be asked to make Yahoo their default search engine on Chrome (and Internet Explorer, for what it's worth). And, according to a Wall Street Journal report, the button will be checked by default, so if you aren't looking out for it, you might unwittingly find yourself a Yahoo user.

37 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by kelarius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems to me like this will lump them in with Ask.com and other bullshit sites that drive traffic through mostly shady means. Giving up Marissa?

    --
    Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
    1. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This. People just looove it when their homepage or search provider changes. Why, just the other day, a coworker told me how much he loved Bing coming back after every round of Windows updates.

      Oh, no, wait, he switched to Chrome because he hated it so much. Take the hint, Marissa.

      As an aside, though - Does anyone actually allow Java to update itself? Of all the common self-updating software out there, Java easily wins as the single most obnoxious. Aside from hijacking the top result when I type "update" in the start menu's search bar... Aside from running all the fucking time rather than just when Java starts... Aside from nagging the user more relentlessly than even the far more legitimate Windows update (Bing aside) - It actively breaks shit every time it updates. You had one job, Larry...

    2. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Microsoft started flagging the Ask toolbar as malware recently in Windows Defender, and automatically removing it. They did so because the Ask toolbar changes your default search provider without asking. Seems like if they made the Java installer do that too, the entire installer would be flagged as malware by Microsoft.

      Could be interesting.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 5, Funny

      I find it ironic that Ask would do that without, er, asking. Clearly, it's questionable behavior.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    4. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why, just the other day, a coworker told me how much he loved Bing coming back after every round of Windows updates.

      Windows Update doesn't do that. Microsoft's anti-malware tools sometimes do, if they detect that your default search provider or homepage have been changed to malware sites. Both Windows Defender and the Malicious Software Removal Tool get updated with Windows Update every month, so maybe that's why his settings kept being reset.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re: This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by kenh · · Score: 4, Informative

      Whoosh!

      Ask, questionable... Come on, you didn't see that coming?

      --
      Ken
    6. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by pla · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Yeah, fantastic suggestion! Say, could you just convince my boss, his boss, and three more layers up, that we need to:
      • Scrap $300k in MS licensing and established server deployments,
      • Spend a year or two rewriting everything we have in production that depends on Windows or IIS,
      • Replace or retrain our entire netops, infosec, and helpdesk with people who know Linux,
      • Retrain 15k users and watch their productivity drop to a crawl for at least six months...

      ...Just so we can switch to an OS that "cares"? ;)

      I like Linux. I run Linux at home. But I make my living putting up with Windows.

    7. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by grahamtriggs · · Score: 4, Informative

      Both should be a criminal offence - If I install an application (e.g. Java), then it should do what it needs to do to make that application work, not mess around with *my* environment unnecessarily.

    8. Re: This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by Z00L00K · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If all anti-virus softwares started to list any installer with an "Opt-Out" procedure as "Potentially Unwanted Program Installer" it would put an end to the habit of pushing shit down the throat of users.

      The problem is not so much people competent with tech as people that don't know left from right on computers and just clicks "Ok". They suffer from all that crap like a new browser installed as well as changed homepages and search providers and then they scream that they don't understand their computer.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    9. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by Xest · · Score: 5, Interesting

      As a professional developer who has led a number of fairly large scale Java projects I've always just accepted the existence of Java on my computer, it's a thing I've worked with so it's a thing I need. Or so my default thinking always went.

      But the last time Java asked for permission to update on my computer at home there appeared to no longer be an obvious way of avoiding the Ask toolbar install. I had a choice of next, or cancel which cancelled the whole installation. I was getting fed up of it anyway, given that it seemed to be persistently asking to update every time I went to my computer anyway.

      Java, therefore is gone from my home computer and I will no longer consider it for any spare time projects. This has the knock on effect that it's reduced in desirability for me as an option when determining what technology to use for new commercial projects at work too. If I have a choice between Java + Ask, or no Java, it's not really a difficult choice for me.

      So for me, Yahoo can stick whatever they want on it, but under Oracle's stewardship it's going to end up a dying product. For some reason, Yahoo seems incredibly intent on consistently tying itself up with losers. Instead of continuously wasting money backing losers, they should probably just spend what needs to be spent on backing a winner for once.

      I like Java as a technology, and a language - hell, I've posted enough times here defending it, but when the client distribution forces the installation of malware like Ask, it's pretty much a dead end for anything desktop based. You can't as a professional insist your clients install something that tries to bundle malware to use your product with a serious face, it's just not tenable. It'd be one thing if it was just a one off question you could say no to on initial installation, but the frequent updates often mean it can be an attempt to force it on you multiple times a week in some cases. It hopes that in just one of those cases, you'll forget to untick the checkbox and accidentally install, well, obviously that hoping was fruitless, because now there just is no checkbox to untick.

      I understand that with command line switches you can tell Java to skip that crap, and that there are options to automate installation without it in corporate environments but frankly in the end it's just easier to not install Java in the first place unless you simply have no choice.

      I can't say I've missed it one bit, I can't remember the last time I needed it for anything at home. So my "I need that because I work with it" attitude has changed to "Why did I ever put up with all those incessant update nag screens for years". I've got better things to do than play the "try and remember to avoid installing malware because Java wants to update" game every time I sit down at my computer.

    10. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by ADRA · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As a professional java developer who's 'led a number or fairly large scale Java projects', you never realized the JDK includes a fully functional JRE without ad-crap installed? Color me suspicious.

      --
      Bye!
    11. Re:This will do WONDERS for Yahoo's image! by PincushionMan · · Score: 3, Informative

      I do. But I went to the Java control panel applet, advanced, and checked that very last option "Suppress Sponsor Offers when Installing or Updating Java". I'd love to know how to do this in the registry.

  2. Assholes ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gee, I'm awful glad I don't have Java on my personal machine any more.

    Because the sleazy bastards running it are mostly interested in their ad revenue.

    Here's a thought, guys ... how about you stop trying to change our browsers for your own benefit?

    Java is dying under the stewardship of Oracle. The sooner the better.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Assholes ... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Okay Larry, you can stop with the anonymous Slashdot postings - we know it's you.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
  3. Re:of course it will be a default by BlackPignouf · · Score: 5, Funny

    that insures greater penetration

    That's the right word.

  4. Opt out sneakware crap and Oracle suck. by ITRambo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Oracle, and other company's, opt out crapware installs is one reason that we install Unchecky on all customer's PC's that we service since almost everyone had Ask toolbars, but had no idea how it got installed. This will help the less aware customers avoid crud buildup in their systems, no thanks to a-hole companies like Oracle.

  5. Re:Hardly anything new by fph+il+quozientatore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real news here is that Java is now officially crapware.

    --
    My first program:

    Hell Segmentation fault

  6. Re:This is not news... by ihtoit · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's not the point, there's a legal issue here. Actually, it's settled case law: opt outs are illegal. End of argument. The checkbox should default to clear (ie the default search engine should NOT be changed because someone forgot to uncheck the box).

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  7. Re:Google is too wild . . . by ihtoit · · Score: 3, Funny

    maybe try turning safe search back on and not searching with such ambiguous keyword combinations as "giant cock"?

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  8. I'm not worried. by Comboman · · Score: 5, Funny

    If Java tries to change by default search engine to Yahoo, one of my 27 toolbars will quickly change it back to Ask.com

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
  9. Re:No Java by ArcadeMan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Default installations of OS X don't have Java anymore, which is why your link exists in the first place.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  10. Re: This is not news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're probably searching on Yahoo.

  11. What's the point? by skovnymfe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Chrome won't run Java anymore. Soon IE won't either.

    What exactly are they trying to accomplish here?

  12. Re:Yeah, for exactly one search by Daniel+Hoffmann · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is an evil practice born of corporate interests, just because it could be evilier does not mean we should turn a blind eye to it.

  13. Re:This is not news... by fnj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oracle can package Java any way they want, including with "opt-outs." Downloading/installing Java is a voluntary choice the user makes.

    Apologist alert. So if you "voluntarily" choose to engage me to mount new tires on your car, does that mean you don't mind if I install a tracking device in cooperation with the NSA, if you fail to spot the tiny pre-checked box on page 678 of the paperwork? Because everyone should EXPECT tracker installation when they "voluntarily" choose to install new tires, right?

  14. Re: This is not news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But it's still evil. Okay, so there's a way to avoid it - nice. It's still a dick move to reconfigure the user machine like this.

    My machine has a default for a reason. I've set that default based on my preference. That you're changing my preference based on a totally unrelated action is a dick move. That you're changing it based on a required action is a double dick move. Java updates are *not optional* if you want to stay secure.

    Once software reaches this stage it's clearly a failed business venture. What next? We could always ship Java with malware to tap into some of those botnet dollars? How about we ship it with backdoors? How about shipping it with a keylogger? Is there anything else you'd like to ship it with?

    Fuck Java. I'll use C++, thanks.

  15. Re:This is not news... by ihtoit · · Score: 4, Informative

    EU Directive 2002/58 on Privacy and Electronic Communications deals with this, as does the maxim "Silence or lack of objection does not imply informed consent", to paraphrase Munby LJ in G (R on the application of) v Nottingham City Council [2008] EWHC 400 (Admin), para. 56.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  16. Re:Google is too wild . . . by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Informative

    Which, depending on the subject, can lead to totally off-topic results

    What is off-topic about those results?

    The organisation in question's website - which is no longer called the Wisconsin Tourism Federation - comes second in the list, and only because you've used google.de. Use its new name, or use google.com, and it comes top.

    Seems like it's working perfectly to me.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  17. Sleazy as fuck by flopsquad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Of course I want to use a search provider that has to hijack my browser to gain any significant marketshare. Why would I want to use the search engine that works best for me, when Oracle can choose a shittier one for me?

    --
    Nothing posted to /. has ever been legal advice, including this.
  18. And by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Informative

    Adobe tries to slip in MacAfee on you when you download their pdf reader.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  19. Re:Google is too wild . . . by BlackPignouf · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you try to access google.com from Germany, it automatically redirects you to google.de.
    If you want the "original" Google from abroad, you need to type google.com/ncr.
    This link should work the same all over the world :
    https://www.google.com/?gws_rd...

  20. To the poster by fulldecent · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you're going to include an obscure technology like Java in the article. Could you please explain what it is?

    --

    -- I was raised on the command line, bitch

  21. Hopefully, the old pre-opt-out will work by idontgno · · Score: 5, Informative

    In Windows, use the Java Control Panel and select the "Advanced" tab.

    At the very bottom of the list, completely out-of-sight unless you scroll aaaaaaal the way down, in a category called "Beware of the Leopard"... no, sorry, I meant "Miscellaneous"... there's a checkbox labeled "Suppress sponsor offers when installing or updating Java".

    Of course, by default it's not checked. Because money.

    But check it and apply or "OK" the settings change. In the current implementation, this prevents bundling the Ask.com malware with Java upgrades -- it's a pre-opt-out, and you never have to think of it again. (At least, until Oracle decides the option should auto-magically unset itself when the user's not looking. Because money.)

    Assuming this option continues to exist in future Oracle Java versions and is honored for the Yahoo tie-in, this would alleviate the pre-opt-in crapware issue. Big assumptions, of course, because Oracle.

    (Or alternately, don't install Java if you don't actually need it. Or install OpenJava rather than Oracle's.)

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  22. Another Yahoo goodie! by no-body · · Score: 3, Interesting

    On Yahoo Email, there are mandatory ad emails showing on top and one cannot delete those.
    If you click on one under Firefox, a link opens but is blocked.
    Looks the more BS they produce the more desperate they get and produce even more crap.
    Digging their own grave it seems.
    Maybe it has to do with the "upper crust people" beeing control freaks and out of touch with reality when things don't go like they should in their minds.

  23. Idiots. by prisoner-of-enigma · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, because tricking people and manipulating their settings without their full acknowledgement is a sure fire way to gain brand loyalty. Idiots.

    --
    In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  24. This is really big news by Minwee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think we're missing the real story here.

    The article is suggesting that Java update _actually works_ and is capable of _updating Java_.

    I can't remember the last time that was true.

  25. Turning off Java's add-on crapware by taustin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft]
    "SPONSORS"="DISABLE"

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\JavaSoft]
    "SPONSORS"="DISABLE"

    The screen with the checkboxes does not even appear.