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etix's weblog
Personal blog · blog.l0cal.com · on HN as etixsystemsprogramming
etix's weblog is a personal blog at blog.l0cal.com about systems and programming. Since 2009, 4 different Hacker News readers have linked it 20 times, most often “The story between VLC and Sourceforge”. The last post was in 2017, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (1) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
The linked post is about companies that mislead users, such as those bundling spyware with software. One commenter cites it alongside GPL-to-LGPL relicensing and French DRM enforcement.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 1 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- The story between VLC and Sourceforge3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2015-06-02
- Companies that make money by distributing misleading versions of VLC2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2011-07-07
What Hacker News says?
And this is not new, I've written an article on the exact same topic a year and a half ago about VLC: http://blog.l0cal.com/2011/07/07/these-companies-that-mislea...
Comment linking /2011/07/07/these-companies-that-mislead-our-users/
on “Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows”Submitted Companies that make money by distributing misleading versions of VLC as a story · 248 points
HN discussionThe VLC team experienced the same kind of crapware in 2013 but on Sourceforge and decided to move away. https://blog.l0cal.com/2013/05/02/rethinking-vlc-mirrors-inf...
Comment linking /2013/05/02/rethinking-vlc-mirrors-infrastructure/
on “What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps”Submitted From Gmail to Fastmail as a story · 145 points
HN discussionThe VLC account has also been hijacked but without wrapping the installer: https://blog.l0cal.com/2015/06/02/what-happened-to-sourcefor...
Comment linking /2015/06/02/what-happened-to-sourceforge/
on “Sourceforge Hijacks the Nmap Sourceforge Account”Submitted VLC Media Player 1.0.0 is finally out as a story · 102 points
HN discussionAnother option is some shady people bundling VLC with spyware, some of which have been successfully clamped down: http://blog.l0cal.com/2011/07/07/these-companies-that-mislea... Or, less likely but more timely, the GPL→LGPL relicensing to get an AppStore port, or the consultation to get the French DRM police to play its role in enforcing a conflicting law about interoperability.
Comment linking /2011/07/07/these-companies-that-mislead-our-users/
on “This is what a DDoS attack looks like”Submitted The story between VLC and Sourceforge as a story · 92 points
HN discussionThis is precisely for these reasons we stopped distributing VLC via SF.net in 2013. I even wrote about it: https://blog.l0cal.com/2013/05/02/rethinking-vlc-mirrors-inf...
Comment linking /2013/05/02/rethinking-vlc-mirrors-infrastructure/
on ““It appears that SourceForge took control of the 'GIMP for Windows' account””Submitted VideoLAN think blockchains must be private and untraceable as a story · 10 points
HN discussionSubmitted The full story between VLC and Sourceforge as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted VideoLAN: blockchains must be private and untraceable as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Using DNS as a cheap failover and load-balancer as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted What happened to Source forge? (2015) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Prototype of an Ambient display using VLC media player as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Rethinking the VLC’s mirrors infrastructure as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Unveiling interesting numbers about VLC downloads as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted VLC 2.2.0 WeatherWax as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Worldwide network measurements with RIPE Atlas as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Create an ebook using images on GNU/Linux in two steps as a story · 1 points
HN discussion