Eraser too demanding?

[Foreraser]

Hi,

Tried to install Eraser 6.0.9.2343,
It wanted dotnet 3.5 sp1,
- Already using dozens of programs, most of them hugely more complicated than Eraser, and some as simple as Eraser - none of them requires dotnet 3.5 sp1!?
Installed it just because of Eraser,
Greeted by some obscure messages: "The following settings held invalid values..." and "An invalid file erasure method was selected"!?
Looked it up on this forum and learned that I needed to install some new certificates. Certificates?
Located required update just to see I also need to install Service pack 3 for XP???
Well, it was too much for me, so I uninstalled it (although not before I could spot a little bug: when Eraser is on the taskbar and you choose Open Eraser right-clicking its icon in systray, it doesnt open - it just stays there as if you did nothing). I mean, what would be next?

And if it is all, isn't it too much already?

Hint for developers: It would be "nice" if, when installing, it would first show all the requirements (not just automatically starting to download dotnet - why do you think people prefer downloading dotnet and what not to - not installing this program?), and if those requirements could be easily seen at download page. And I mean easily - those requirements are not usual ones (especially for such a program), are they?

Mind you, among other things, I am using some offline e-bank software with smartcards etc. and it is far LESS demanding than this little proggy!

Uninstalled Eraser and dotnet and all is well again, but - what the hell?

Best regards.

 

[Joel]

Tried to install Eraser 6.0.9.2343,
It wanted dotnet 3.5 sp1,
- Already using dozens of programs, most of them hugely more complicated than Eraser, and some as simple as Eraser - none of them requires dotnet 3.5 sp1!?
Installed it just because of Eraser,

Thank you. Programs are increasingly dependent on external libraries; .NET can be viewed as an extension of the runtimes which native applications use. I think having such libraries allow us to focus on writing the core application code and not reinventing the wheel, which I think is a good thing.

Greeted by some obscure messages: "The following settings held invalid values..." and "An invalid file erasure method was selected"!?
Looked it up on this forum and learned that I needed to install some new certificates. Certificates?
Located required update just to see I also need to install Service pack 3 for XP???

I think running a fully patched computer should be the minimum for anyone who's concerned about security. Not updating your root certificates is asking for can of worms: 2011 saw attacks on root CAs, resulting in one having it's Windows Trusted Certificate status revoked.

Well, it was too much for me, so I uninstalled it (although not before I could spot a little bug: when Eraser is on the taskbar and you choose Open Eraser right-clicking its icon in systray, it doesnt open - it just stays there as if you did nothing). I mean, what would be next?

A dialog seems to be blocking the window from appearing. It works on all other situations, currently.

Hint for developers: It would be "nice" if, when installing, it would first show all the requirements

It is written in the SourceForge project page that Eraser 6 uses .NET.

Hint (not just automatically starting to download dotnet - why do you think people prefer downloading dotnet and what not to - not installing this program?),

You can cancel the .NET installer, the Eraser installer will run and then tell you that you need .NET.

and if those requirements could be easily seen at download page. And I mean easily - those requirements are not usual ones (especially for such a program), are they?

They are. .NET is pushed to client computers as part of Windows updates (albeit optional) Vista comes with .NET 3.0; 7 comes with .NET 3.5. Other Microsoft services also require .NET: Silverlight, Windows Live OneCare (which has been superseded with Microsoft Security Essentials). .NET sees download figures per month way higher than what Eraser sees. If anything, it would be a minority that .NET is not installed on a computer, especially since .NET has been around for at least a good 5 years. A similar parallel is seen with Java. Do you have the Java Runtime Environment installed?

 

[Foreraser]

Thank you. Programs are increasingly dependent on external libraries; .NET can be viewed as an extension of the runtimes which native applications use. I think having such libraries allow us to focus on writing the core application code and not reinventing the wheel, which I think is a good thing.

Well, you may like .net, but to imply that those that do not use it are "reinventing the wheel" is really preposterous.
Also, .net 3.5 has: 98 assemblies, 309 namespaces, 11,417 classes and 109,657 members. Do you know how many of those are (really) used in Eraser?

Not updating your root certificates is asking for can of worms: 2011 saw attacks on root CAs, resulting in one having it's Windows Trusted Certificate status revoked.

Care to explain how exactly is not updating CAs by MS' updates "asking for can of worms"?
Do you really think that downloading CA update required by Eraser would protect me from these:
http://arstechnica.com/security/news/20 ... tion.ars/2
https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/atta ... -it-082911

A dialog seems to be blocking the window from appearing. It works on all other situations, currently.

Ok... so... it is not a bug (maybe a .net feature)?

It is written in the SourceForge project page that Eraser 6 uses .NET.

Well, you know I know that. Read again what I wrote, please.

You can cancel the .NET installer, the Eraser installer will run and then tell you that you need .NET.

But, of course I canceled it! You'd think that someone using program like Eraser should know at least that.
In my view of security I never let any installer communicate outside.

They are. .NET is pushed to client computers as part of Windows updates (albeit optional) Vista comes with .NET 3.0; 7 comes with .NET 3.5. Other Microsoft services also require .NET: Silverlight, Windows Live OneCare (which has been superseded with Microsoft Security Essentials). .NET sees download figures per month way higher than what Eraser sees. If anything, it would be a minority that .NET is not installed on a computer, especially since .NET has been around for at least a good 5 years. A similar parallel is seen with Java. Do you have the Java Runtime Environment installed?

Well, you are wrong - they are not. Majority of applications is NOT requiring .net. Vista was a flop, so I cant imagine using it as a example for anything but - a flop.
Java and JRE is way, way, way more useful than .net, so no point comparing the two.
Kind regards.