Attack of the Hacks

I sometimes forget how people liberally install any software that seems like it does something desireable without any consideration given about how it goes about doing it.

For example, the author of this post lists about half a dozen things that I wouldn't install because of the hackish nature of the software. Simply put, I like it when my computer behaves predictably and my software doesn't crash.  :)

The way developers of these software hacks go about things is comparable to attempting to rewire your car's engine in the dark. Using undocumented APIs and messing with system internals may produce a desired effect in certain instances, but it can cause problems for other applications or the OS itself.

Unfortunately, users get into the mindset where they try running something once, and if it doesn't cause any strange behavior or crashes immediately, they decide that it never will. This is a nightmare for other developers because we'll get support emails decribing odd crashes or misbehavior, only only to see in the crash log that some weird piece of software has sabotaged the runtime environment.

Not only does it make us look bad, but it wastes time we could be spending on actually improving the software.

Sorry, was I not supposed to pour tapioca in my gas tank?

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