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TETENAL · Feb 8, 2009, 02:19 PM

So I was attempting to update to GoogleEarth 5 and been greeted with what: a forced installation of a Google update daemon that runs as root in the background all the time whether you're using GoogleEarth or not. No opt-out or something. You must install this.

The explaination says it's "safer" to have a daemon running as root in the background all the time than updating GoogleEarth manually.

Most obnoxious of all: there is no uninstaller! I spent half an hour trying to find this stuff and trashing all of it. Who know whether I caught all remnants of this ****. This experience really pissed me off.
I'm back to GooglEarth 4 for now (or ever if this stays in).

Google, THIS IS EVIL! Whoever thought it would be a great idea to force this **** on every user is either … ah I don't even have words for this.

turtle777 · Feb 8, 2009, 02:43 PM

Note to self: no need to change anything. I'm using Google Earth once a year, version 4 will do just fine.

-t

Spheric Harlot · Feb 8, 2009, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

So I was attempting to update to GoogleEarth 5 and been greeted with what: a forced installation of a Google update daemon that runs as root in the background all the time whether you're using GoogleEarth or not. No opt-out or something. You must install this.

The explaination says it's "safer" to have a daemon running as root in the background all the time than updating GoogleEarth manually.

Most obnoxious of all: there is no uninstaller! I spent half an hour trying to find this stuff and trashing all of it. Who know whether I caught all remnants of this ****.

Huh?

I updated to Google Earth 5.0 as soon as it came out, and while it asked me whether to allow auto-update-checking and I believe I said "yes", there is NO google process running in the background, neither as root nor any other user.

As I recall, I was asked, and could say "yes" or "no", too - are we in two different universes or are you using a different Google Earth from me?

Do you have any OTHER Google services installed - Google Desktop Search, IIRC, installs all sorts of wild **** (and warns you about that, though).

Art Vandelay · Feb 8, 2009, 02:59 PM

I just installed v. 5 to see what all the fuss was about. The only thing I found bad was that you have no choice. It does not run as root. It installs ~/Library/Google which is the update engine. It also installs a LaunchAgent at ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Since it's a user LaunchAgent, it does not run as root, it runs as you. Also, it does not run all the time, it runs every 144 minutes. If you don't want it to be running at all, simply remove the LaunchAgent and logout and login. If you remove the engine, it will reinstall when you launch Google Earth again.

Art Vandelay · Feb 8, 2009, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

As I recall, I was asked, and could say "yes" or "no", too - are we in two different universes or are you using a different Google Earth from me?

The current version gives you an option of "Yes" or "Quit." Annoying? Yes. End of the world and evil? No.

I have the same results as you. No root processes nor any ever-present daemon.

Wiskedjak · Feb 8, 2009, 03:20 PM

Yep, Google's updater on the Mac is almost as annoying as Apple's updater on Windows. Both are non-optional and can't be disabled.

Art Vandelay · Feb 8, 2009, 03:24 PM

You can disable Google's. I mention how in my above post. I'm sure with a little registry hacking, Apple's can be disabled on Windows too.

Spheric Harlot · Feb 8, 2009, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

I just installed v. 5 to see what all the fuss was about. The only thing I found bad was that you have no choice. It does not run as root. It installs ~/Library/Google which is the update engine. It also installs a LaunchAgent at ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Since it's a user LaunchAgent, it does not run as root, it runs as you. Also, it does not run all the time, it runs every 144 minutes.

Of course, this is a bad idea. I do not want my production machine to start up a process every two hours while I'm in the midst of recording.

That's a -10 for style, -several hundred for complete ****wittedness.

Wiskedjak · Feb 8, 2009, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

You can disable Google's. I mention how in my above post.

It's not disabling if it reactivates itself when the app is run again. It's also not easy if the option to disable isn't right up front in the updater.

Art Vandelay · Feb 8, 2009, 06:35 PM

It does not reactivate if you only remove the LaunchAgent. Remove the LaunchAgent, it's gone for good. Remove the engine itself, then it will reactivate itself the next time you launch Google Earth. This is what I said above.

TETENAL · Feb 8, 2009, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

As I recall, I was asked, and could say "yes" or "no", too - are we in two different universes or are you using a different Google Earth from me?

It didn't ask "yes" or "no". It asked "yes" or "**** you, you're not using Google Earth any more then". Sorry, but I don't like to be coerced into installing system components. Especially when I don't know what is installed where, how to disable and uninstall it again etc.

I might have been mistaken whether this actually runs at root. I thought laundd processes do. Either way, I don't want this to periodically run and check against Google's servers. I run Google Earth maybe once a week. Why does it need to check for updates every two hours? It's perfectly fine to check for updates when I actually run the app. Just like every other application does it as well.