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"The list archives and stack overflow are filled with develo

Journal by MichaelDavidCrawford

-pers gnashing their teeth."

I just asked my client whether I should just give up on what I'm doing.

I'm trying to write a GUI uninstaller. How hard can that be?

Apple recommends that one use a very, very simple privileged helper app, because it cannot guarantee the security of its GUI libraries.

That sounds dandy but so far I am unable to get that helper app to work.

There is already a dead-simple shell script uninstaller. The GUI is intended for those users who cannot deal with command lines.

"The list archives and stack overflow are filled with develo | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 8 comments | Search Discussion
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 08 2018, @02:33AM

    by takyon (881) <{takyon} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Thursday February 08 2018, @02:33AM (#634638) Journal

    You should lie to the client, slam the material needed to learn to make the GUI uninstaller, and outsource the job if all else fails.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 08 2018, @03:29AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 08 2018, @03:29AM (#634659)

    Trying to scam students and unemployables into doing your work for free while you pull a big hairy paycheck? For shame. A bulbous egghead like MDC should be able to do his own work without Stack Overflow.

    Hell, I've blacklisted Stack Overflow. I never follow links to Stack Overflow because I don't care to dig though mountains of shit to find one tiny nugget of wisdom some idiot copied from the manual. Instead I READ THE FUCKING MANUAL and I apply my intelligence and experience to solving the goddamned problem myself. Of course I don't get paid because intelligence, experience, and problem solving are all worthless. Begging for free answers is the way to get noticed and to get paid for being an idiot.

    But what the fuck do I know. I'm the absolute worst type of unemployable: the type who refuses to join Stack Overflow and refuses to give all the answers to overpaid pricks like MDC.

  • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Thursday February 08 2018, @07:26AM (3 children)

    by NotSanguine (285) <{NotSanguine} {at} {SoylentNews.Org}> on Thursday February 08 2018, @07:26AM (#634769) Homepage Journal

    Just write a GUI wrapper for the shell script?

    Draw the window, confirm that uninstallation is requested, then spawn the shell script.

    Easy Peasy, no?

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr

    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday February 08 2018, @04:58PM (2 children)

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday February 08 2018, @04:58PM (#635017) Homepage Journal

      That never even occurred to me

      While I will try it I don't think it will help. The C++ helper app works when I run it directly from the command line

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]

      • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Thursday February 08 2018, @10:01PM (1 child)

        by NotSanguine (285) <{NotSanguine} {at} {SoylentNews.Org}> on Thursday February 08 2018, @10:01PM (#635228) Homepage Journal

        Good luck. I hope you work it out.

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr

        • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday February 08 2018, @10:29PM

          by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday February 08 2018, @10:29PM (#635243) Homepage Journal

          I had forgotten about the requirement that the helper app verify the authorization that it receives from the GUI app.

          My GUI prompts for an admin user/pass then creates an external form authorization record - the external form is just a flat array of bytes.

          The helper is required to convert the external form to an internal one than verify it. Just now I don't recall all the details of what is done for this.

          This is required because a bad actor might run the helper app directly, without using the GUI. I do realize the worst thing a bad actor could do would be to uninstall my product.

          I expect it would be possible to write a C++ program that verifies the authorization then passes its result to the script via a return code. But then we would have three apps.

          Really this shouldn't be so difficult.

          --
          Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
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