Subscribe by EmailBuyer beware: pointless text file wins 16 software awards
September 5, 2007 by Geeks are Sexy | 11 commentsAnyone who likes to download freeware and shareware tools from the Internet should read this cautionary tale about the value of “five-star awards” from sites that aggregate and mirror downloads.
Andy Brice, a UK-based software developer, had grown suspicious about “awards” ascribed to freeware and shareware programs that he knew lacked functions and features of rival offerings. So he invented a program named AwardMeStars. It didn’t run; in fact, it wasn’t actually a program. It was a text file comprised solely of the words, “This program does nothing at all,” and renamed as an executable (.EXE). He had a third party submit his file to just about every software aggregation site; then he sat back to watch the results.
His non-operating, do-nothing program won 16 awards. Various cites labeled it “Certified 5-Star,” “Editor’s Pick,” and “Cool Discovery.” All of them, obviously, from sites that didn’t even bother to note the blatant name of the program, nor try to run it even once.
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Interesting to say the least. The best source for honesty (IMO) is speaking with other people that have actually purchased / used the product.
Wow. Those are some reliable awards. (That said, I wouldn’t be too keen on running every .exe that people sent me either. ;) )
Hey this is old….wasn’t it on Digg (I think?) like 3 weeks ago?
Maybe, but I’ve only stumbled on it today.. thought it was interesting enough to post :)
But it downloaded so quickly. Doesn’t that count for something?
LMAO! It counts for sure if you are on dial up!!
Unbelievable. Maybe I should pull out that old tic tac toe game I created when I took Intro to VB. Maybe I can get rich! ;)
[...] Source: “Buyer beware: pointless text file wins 16 software awards” by WatchGuard Wire, via [Geeks Are Sexy]. [...]
Just ask somebody on slashdot if its good software. They hate everything so if they say its good…
That sounds interesting but what are some of the sites that gave the awards. Is there somewhere that i can see this?
Your asking for the source of an article that is pointing out that free information on the internet can’t be trusted kind of ironic. Its freeware but there is no such thing as a free lunch, always do your research and take everything you hear on the internet, and life really, with a grain of salt. If freeware traveled through the same certification as regular software it would no longer be free, thats the price there is no guarantee