why would an installer need access to my computer?
 

why would an installer need access to my computer? Why is there an installer at all?

this is just baffling, after blocking wowmatrix curse gives me the very buggy mac curse client 3.0 and you guys want full access to my computer to install something as simple as an updater?



thanks but no thanks

How else do you expect it to install anything?
It's a choice.
See above.

"unrestricted" is a very WRONG definition of what its actually requiring, it need full permissions because it has to read, write, copy and overwrite.

I religiously watch my system for changes, access, upstream infor and downstream so I know whats going on with my computer.

AFAIAC the minion is safe for updating, the only worry i would have is with 3rd party additions to it.

Worst comes to worst, backup your WTF and interface folders before updating and virus, spyware, malware check it each time.

i expect to get a program icon i can put wherever i want there is no reason for something as trivial as an updater to have its own installer

the point is exactly that i don't expect nor want it to install anything where the system rightfully doesn't give it access in the first place

it is a bad unnecessary choice, it make you look unprofessional or worse like you have some hidden wrong intentions (why else ask access to my system)

there are no popular mac applications that work like this as most users will refuse to install them

the warning is not a poor choice of words its exactly what it is, unrestrictive, i give permission to write/read anywhere in the system

MMOUI Minion isn't a native cocoa based application (the one that you can just drag to your applications folder). It's something written in java and because of that it is asking you for permission.

You're complaining about "a poor choice of words" in the wrong place. I'm pretty sure that's a default warning written and provided by Apple themselves, not by Minion.

Also, I think you're being a bit (nah, overly) paranoid about the app. What is it going to do, delete every file and uninstall every other app? Highly unlikely. If it did do things to your computer that it shouldn't do, then other people would have already complained about it and Minion wouldn't be around anymore.

a java application does not need permission of any kind to be copied on my hard drive

there are many far more complex multi platform java apps, that work (install wise) exactly like a cocoa app does i.e. an icon i copy to my preferred location (1 example would be jdownloader)

there is no reason to ask permission, it only needs permission if it wants to do things it shouldn't like:

1. install new libraries (os x has all installed as is)
2. copy files to places where they don't belong
3. its malware and wants to destroy stuff

whatever it wants to do its potentially system destroying

i would suggest to stop responding if all you want to do is blindly defend a very poor design choice for no other reason than to not admit it is a poor choice

i am not complaining about poor choice of words, i am telling the choice of words is spot on, a previous poster found he had to correct apple and minimize the risk

its not paranoia, its a valid concern for the safety of my OS and private data, if every little app behaved like this we would have 0 security left.

I have to agree about the apple philosophy about applications, however, Minion is an application that is meant to be cross compatible. And that goes for installing it as well. You can't say it's a poor design choice. It's just one way to tackle cross compatibility.

I'd say you are pretty safe, considering our fine website here. I can understand the concern when your OS tells you something wants an unfettered access to your computer (p.s. Mac should use that verbiage :P), but installing software onto your computer is your decision. Unless you've *never* used a Windows based environment or what-have-you, you can easily say, "Nah, I don't want to use this because it may harm me, even though it doesn't seem to have harmed anyone else, but I want to have the caution this little box brought upon me by choosing the blue pill or the red pill." Or some variation.

This isn't a snarky remark. Just an observation on what has transpired thus far.

it has nothing to do with cross compatibility, jdownloader is cross compatible and yet installs correctly

many apps with an installer (a philosophy from windows and os 9, but possible on os x) do so without needing access, there is no reason why an app as trivial as an updater should ask for this

so i have a mac with maybe 300 applications, some in cocoa, some in java, some in old carbon, from all kind of developers, some multi platform, some only mac, none of them trigger this warning, yet a small little updater program does

i am not sure if any of you are actually from wowi or just rabid fans posting to defend their favorite site? If any of you are from wowi i would take this problem serious instead of be apologetic for something that has no valid reason to be like this.

It does need this access, I believe. The installer also updates your application, so it needs access to replace files.

Maybe Shirik can give a better answer.

I've been called a dog by some, but never rabid. I have never used the Mac OS extensively, and probably never will; also I never got around to downloading and using the updater, something about downloading directly every time without the convenience of having them all go at once just seems over kill for me. :banana:

Generally spealing, upgrading a cocoa application on OS X is actually really simple. You download a zip file or dmg file, and you drag the .app file in it to your applications folder. No need to mess with installers.

ITT Mac users

It is impossible for me to create a certificate that requests different permission sets for Windows and Mac. Windows requires this permission set.

If you don't trust my application, why would you use it, anyway? Do you really trust your OS so much that you are willing to be insecure and let it act as your bodyguard?

P.S. If you really must know, a JWS application is not authorized to make files anywhere except in your temporary directory without requesting this permission set. Installers don't work too well that way. The application itself will not request this access.

there seems to be a general attitude to just trust anything or you are paranoid
its puzzling to me why a programmer would resort to the if you don't like it don't use it mantra, nothing i said is unreasonable

if you only care for windows don't release a mac version, other java apps seem to be perfectly fine installing whatever they need without needing unrestricted access

the bodyguard comment is just stupid, you seem upset an os caught your app when it wants access to parts it doesn't need

if this is how your app presents itself to the mac user it will not be widely used, but apparently you don't care so i guess everybody wins

How many people have you seen saying" MMOUI just ate my HD"?

I get that same message from DOZENS of well known, highly trusted applications.

Being security conscious is one thing. But lets put a little common sense in there too.

again the trust everything or you are paranoid mantra

also i challenge you to even name 3 applications that pop up this warning

this is a problem for both usability (it confuses the user and asks him to trust some random app over a security warning) and security (you actually advise this behavior making any security warning useless as you train users to just click allow)