unspeakably offended

[freckles_and_doubt]

Last night, by way of celebration at having my life back and having vaguely enjoyed the AD&D cheese of the first game, I installed Neverwinter Nights II on my computer. The installation process also installed the .net framework version 2.0. (without, may I add, asking permission or giving me a chance to abort the install). Said framework clearly rifled through my hard drive, discovered my Age of Wonders install, decided it was illegitimate, deleted all the save files, and password protected it so I couldn't load it. It also, for no adequately defined reason, uninstalled Windows Media Player. Then, by way of an encore, it declined to load Neverwinter Nights on the grounds that the version was bundled with drivers for the Evil Landlord's graphics card, which I don't have.

I cannot adequately express how angry this makes me. It's intrusive, insulting and unbelievably rude; it says I'm buying a product which then dictates not only how I may use it in my own personal context, but which other products I may use with it. It's like buying a sofa and placing it in your living room only to have it open a hitherto unsuspected, giant, carnivorous maw and eat the carpet because it's decided it doesn't match.

It is also the apotheosis of the delusional belief held by software producers that their products aren't actually sold to you so much as lent, grudgingly, in a contract hedged about with conditions, limitations and the most narcissistic set of assumptions about being able to have a hissy fit at any moment and take it all back. More than that, they rely on your lack of ability to control them, so that you can neither discern nor prevent the processes by which they act unilaterally on your computer. Our society is predicated on a system which defines itself by the value of products to the corporations who produce and control them, rather than on the notion of creating things which are actually of value to the people who buy them.

I swear, if someone gave me Magrat's fairy godmother wand, but set to orang-utans rather than pumpkins, I would spend the rest of my life waving the bloody thing until our useless so-called "civilisation" actually started making some sense. (Come to think of it, I might actually get with the waving even if it was still set to pumpkins.)

Last Night I Dreamed: an interesting and frenetic post-apocalyptic adventure in which I dodged through exploding cities, underground complexes, hospitals and mansions in the company of Agent Doggett and, for some reason, wytchfynder, trying to avoid equal quantities of X-files supersoldiers and the alien race who actually had the nasty military tech to take them down.

Comments

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Er, .net framework (any version) doesn't have specific functionality to do that. Software written to run upon it, which would require it to be installed first, quite conceivably. But such stupid software could be written upon any framework.

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

aargh! so you're saying that the install told me it was installing the .net framework and Neverwinter, and in fact it was also installing other things it wasn't telling me about? OK, if possible now even crosser. Bring on your penguins, I say.

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

It's like saying "Java deleted my games". Software written in Java (or .net) did it.

I like .net. I wouldn't have chosen my job otherwise.

[tngr-spacecadet.livejournal.com]

It sounds like Securom. GRRRR.

[mac1235.livejournal.com]

I might have a more general version somewhere?

[mwotn.livejournal.com]

This is why I try to avoid any software made by anyone who charges for it. Freeware is frequently better, obviously cheaper, and one hell of a lot less fond of screwing up your life.

I also refuse to let my computer modify ANYTHING without my say-so. I'm quite impressed you got such a nasty bug, actually. Although Windows did once decide my dad's preinstalled version of Windows was illegit and locked him out of his comp...

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Of course I got such a nasty bug, my personal techno-jinx is legendary for the inventiveness, cruelty and baroque unlikelihood of the computer disasters it unleashes on me. I'm just special that way. Sigh.

[mwotn.livejournal.com]

This almost calls for an "at least you're special" comment, but I think I'll stick with "cursed"

Meh. My computer is too dull to attract the attention of nasty viruses.