Okay, guys – I’m beggin’ ya…
So… I updated my Paint.net today. In the process, the updater put a brand-new Paint.net shortcut on my desktop. Doing so has inspired me to make an impassioned plea to the makes of such wonderful free software: please, please stop doing that. Stop doing what? Stop putting shortcuts on my desktop when I update. Please. I’m beggin’ ya.
What’s the big deal?, you may find yourself asking. If you don’t want the bloody shortcut, delete it. Or, better yet, go back to running a Gnome desktop on top of FreeBSD instead of running Windows. Both perfectly valid points. I’ll address the first one, I suppose, since I have no real excuse other than Half Life 2 and Portal for the second.
I keep a fastidiously clean desktop. I mean, clean. I have no gadgets, and no shortcuts. I don’t even have a recycle bin. Why, you ask? I like my wallpapers, and I despise a cluttered desktop. I see other people with half (or all) of their desktops cluttered with shortcuts and say “how can you stand to look at that every day?”
My Desktop
Naturally, I don’t actually say that; that would be rude.
Back to the point, I can’t help but notice that if one already has a shortcut on the desktop, updaters don’t make another. In many of these programs, the initial installer either gives you the option of not creating a desktop shortcut, or only creates one if you mark a checkbox. Which is cool. I like that – either option works for me. Which makes me wonder why, when using a built-in updater, a new shortcut is created on my desktop – without anyone asking me.
Basically, guys, here’s the deal: don’t do anything to my computer I didn’t specifically ask you to do.
But the thing that makes me really crazy is programs like Adobe Acrobat Reader. The thing seems to want to update every other day, creates a new desktop shortcut whenever it does, and brings me to a simple question: why? Why in the hell do you (Adobe, I mean) think I need a destop shortcut for Acrobat Reader? It has no function whatever other than reading .pdf files, and opens automatically whenever I open said .pdf files. So… why the holy hell do you think I need a shortcut?
I don’t use Acrobat Reader anymore (I have Nitro pdf professional, which works better as a reader, creator, and editor for .pdf files than anything else I’ve ever seen), but I’m pretty sure my point is still valid.
Of course, no one who actually reads my blog will probably care one way or another about any of this. The people who need to hear this won’t read it, and even if they did, why should they care? I’m just one guy. I just needed to… vent. In a public form.
Long story short: stop using updaters to invade my desktop. Please. I’m begging you.
And on a similar note: unless it’s to cover up a security threat, Please, Java – stop trying to force through updates every week. If it is for security threats… well, that’s kind of another issue you guys at Sun Microsystems should probably be looking into.
student 20 Productions 
I too like an uncluttered desktop, though my wallpaper a.) Changes every 10 seconds and b.) Consists of anime characters. (Nice Who wall paper by the by.)
It is, isn’t it? And it’s a Who/Trek wallpaper, thank you. I used to have Batman vs Darth Vader, and before that I had an anime slide show (Haruhi/Lucky Star, mostly).
But how can I allow anything to replace the awesomeness of a Who/Trek combo wallpaper?
Catharsis validates all rants. Even if there are arguable points (which in this particular venting, there really isn’t since its all about personal preference), venting and ranting serves a purpose and it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks… :)
Shine on you crazy obsessive-compulsive diamond.
I intend to. Shine on, that is. Obsessively and compulsively.