Well I've tried to remain objective and look at the justification on how decisions are made with many things, but this latest build to me - the 4.5.3 release is now it's own brand of DNN Adware...
And how did I get to that opinion, well, browsing mainly, and you know in your travels you go to websites and pick up ideas and read things... how do you think I felt when I read this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adware - a couple of quotes below are from the site.
// Quote //
Application
Adware is software with advertising functions integrated into or bundled with a program. It is usually seen by the programmer as a way to recover programming development costs, and in some cases it may allow the program to be provided to the user free of charge or at a reduced price. The advertising income may allow or motivate the programmer to continue to write, maintain and upgrade the software product.
// End Quote //
and...
// Quote //
There are concerns about adware because it often takes the form of spyware, in which information about the user's activity is tracked, reported, and often re-sold, often without the knowledge or consent of the user. Of even greater concern is malware, which may interfere with the function of other software applications, in order to force users to visit a particular web site.
// End Quote //
And I thought - wow, I wonder how many people actually visited the DNN site to discover that a new form of 'advertising' had been put into the build without anyone knowing... even in the admin/settings page - if you click to setup an adsense account, or your client does, a third party developer they may never ever have heard of will be making some money out of them.
Of course it is not to the extreme as what the examples were on the wikipedia site, but to hear the apologies after being caught out..
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Community/Forums/tabid/795/forumid/118/threadid/139831/scope/posts/Default.aspx and
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/tabid/795/forumid/-1/threadid/138793/scope/posts/Default.aspx
I thought OK it happens, and due to feedback it would be fixed.... but when... I guess long enough to see thousands and thousands of sites setup without knowing that their dnn site might have some adware running - that is... they have no idea when they click that search or adsense button that it's generating income for a third party.. no matter who that third party is, it's bringing up those good old adsense clicks... just by turning on the search.
Not a big thing... well, how would feel knowing that when your customers use that search on their websites, their visitors don't know that it's all tied to something that you can't just go and turn off.
This wasn't part of the release the benefactors had access to.. it was just slipped in at the last moment as if no one would notice or care.. But people do notice, and they do care when they too are working out ways to earn money. It's bad enough the skins being used would break.. which is what brought the attention to the problem in the first place, but to publicly apologise and then not do a thing about it is disappointing.
Fortunately - it doesn't have to be like that...
http://www.snapsis.com//tabid/560/forumid/12/postid/5937/view/topic/Post.aspx shows you how to take control of your search and adsense account, and my suggestion on how this could have been better handled would be as an announcement on how people could help the dnn project easily and quickly so, if I was to read... Hey we're looking for support, and you can support us by using our google adsense in your search.... you would find that people would be much more receptive. But I cringe at the thought of having my websites I provide to clients, with that search option, that doesn't let me, them or their site visitors know, easily and quickly that i'm using the 'adware approach' as explained clearly here -
Sure this is only a mild case of Adware, but completely avoidable and by very nature of not being removed after being discovered, makes me think otherwise...
Nina Meiers