Bloatware

Software that is overloaded with functions or bundles the applications of very different fields of work without common use is referred to as bloatware ( English to bloat ), rarely as bloatware or fatware . This “ featuritis ” makes the program confusing for the user and difficult to maintain for developers. Therefore bloatware tends to be comparatively error-prone and comparatively complex and immature in detail.

Use of the term

The term is also used to describe unnecessary pre-installed software on computers or smartphones that were purchased together with an operating system. In this case, bloatware can include scaled-down versions or demo versions of commercial software packages, or links to advertising sites or forums. Such pre-installations are often accompanied by a large number of additional programs to be loaded at system start-up, which slow down the start-up and the working behavior of the computer. However, there is no clear dividing line between bloatware and crapware .

Furthermore, software is referred to as bloatware , which, compared to programs with similar functionality, requires significantly more system resources.

In addition to consuming system resources, bloatware can expose your computer to significant security risks. In the fourth quarter of 2014, for example, Lenovo installed the Superfish adware on numerous laptops , which belongs to the second of the categories mentioned above and displays advertisements on websites. Since the change to an SSL-encrypted website would have been recognized by the browser, a Superfish certificate was installed on the affected computers, with which the changed website was re-signed. The key for signing was always the same and integrated in Superfish. It could thus be easily read and used for an unnoticed man-in-the-middle attack on the notebook concerned.

Reasons for bloatware to emerge

Bloatware usually arises for marketing reasons or - also alleged - user requests. Software development is often characterized by a process that is referred to in English as creeping featurism (Anglicism also called creeping featuritis , meaning " creeping disease of increased function"): Little by little , new additional functions are offered in order to maintain the level of popularity or distribution or increase. As a side effect, the hardware requirements increase, operation becomes more complicated and the likelihood of errors increases . However, creeping featuritis does not affect every (commercial) program that has many functions or that gradually gets them .

Commercial software is particularly susceptible to such a development, where on the one hand there are always good advertising reasons to buy a new version and on the other hand there is often deadline pressure with regard to the delivery date, so that not every new function is sufficiently tested.

Avoidance strategies

One way of preventing a program from slowly expanding is to provide a plug-in interface. This allows functionality to be outsourced to plug-ins that are only integrated by the users who actually use the functions. This keeps the actual program lean.

literature

Scott Berkun: The Art of IT Project Management. O'Reilly Inc., Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-89721-921-2

Web links

Stefan Krempl: Bloatware: Google should take action against pre-installed apps. In: Heise online . January 8, 2020 .

Individual evidence

↑ Niklaus Wirth ( Wirth's Law ): A Plea for Lean Software (English; PDF , ≈ 516 kB), E. Perratore, T. Thompson, J. Udell and R. Malloy: “Fighting fatware” (in the mentioned PDF on page 68 , in the section there under 'References' ), Byte , Vol. 18, No. 4, April 1993, pp. 98-108; see also byte edition 1993-04, from page 113
↑ Stefan Krempl: Bloatware: Google should take action against pre-installed apps. In: Heise online . January 8, 2020 . Retrieved June 14, 2020 .; Quote: "But a study shows that 91 percent of the supplied bloat and crapware did not even appear in Google's Play Store ...".
↑ Detlef Borchers: 30 years ago: The first killer application. In: Heise online . January 28, 2013 . Retrieved June 14, 2020 .; Quote: “If the first 1-2-3 had less than 20,000 lines of code, Version 3 came with 400,000 lines. What users dismissed as "bloatware" was meant strategically: The new 1-2-3 was already prepared for OS / 2 and should show its strengths under the new operating system from Microsoft and IBM. "
↑ Dennis Schirrmacher: Danger for Lenovo laptops from pre-installed adware. In: Heise online . 19th February 2015 . Retrieved June 14, 2020.

[Beleg_zum_Bezeichner_‚Fatware‘-1] Niklaus Wirth ( Wirth's Law ): A Plea for Lean Software (English; PDF , ≈ 516 kB), E. Perratore, T. Thompson, J. Udell and R. Malloy: “Fighting fatware” (in the mentioned PDF on page 68 , in the section there under 'References' ), Byte , Vol. 18, No. 4, April 1993, pp. 98-108; see also byte edition 1993-04, from page 113

[heiseonline_4630516-2] Stefan Krempl: Bloatware: Google should take action against pre-installed apps. In: Heise online . January 8, 2020 . Retrieved June 14, 2020 .; Quote: "But a study shows that 91 percent of the supplied bloat and crapware did not even appear in Google's Play Store ...".

[heiseonline_1792736-3] Detlef Borchers: 30 years ago: The first killer application. In: Heise online . January 28, 2013 . Retrieved June 14, 2020 .; Quote: “If the first 1-2-3 had less than 20,000 lines of code, Version 3 came with 400,000 lines. What users dismissed as "bloatware" was meant strategically: The new 1-2-3 was already prepared for OS / 2 and should show its strengths under the new operating system from Microsoft and IBM. "

[heiseonline_2554455-4] Dennis Schirrmacher: Danger for Lenovo laptops from pre-installed adware. In: Heise online . 19th February 2015 . Retrieved June 14, 2020.