{"id":10767,"date":"2015-03-10T20:03:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T00:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=10767"},"modified":"2015-03-11T10:44:14","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T14:44:14","slug":"mac-javas-new-ask-com-toolbar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/10\/mac-javas-new-ask-com-toolbar\/","title":{"rendered":"Mac Java’s New Ask.com Toolbar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jared Newman<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Java’s shady bundled adware is no longer a Windows exclusive, as Oracle has started sneaking the Ask.com toolbar into the Mac version.<\/p>\n

Similar to the Windows version, Java for OS X now attempts to install the Ask toolbar during the setup process, and also tries to set Ask.com as the default browser homepage. ZDNet’s Ed Bott first reported on the adware<\/a>, noting that Oracle added it to Mac installations sometime over the last month.<\/p>\n

To avoid the adware entirely, users must hit “Cancel” when the “Install the Search App by Ask” prompt appears. This is counter-intuitive, because all other steps of the setup process require users to click “Next” to advance. In this case, clicking “Next” installs the toolbar, even when the “Set Ask.com as my browser homepage” box is unchecked.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rich Trouton<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

However, Oracle apparently anticipated that MacJREInstaller may need to be run on a logged-out Mac, as they added a -silent<\/code> function flag to MacJREInstaller. To invoke this installation method, run the following command with root privileges:<\/p>\n

\/path\/to\/Java_install_application.app\/Contents\/MacOS\/MacJREInstaller --silent<\/pre>\n
This installation mode does not attempt to download the Sponsors.framework.tar<\/tt> file and does not install the Ask.com browser settings and toolbar.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The Java runtime is needed for popular applications like Minecraft and Photoshop. I use CrashPlan, which includes its own Java runtime<\/a>, as well as Apple’s Java-based tools for submitting to the Mac App Store.<\/p>\n
Update (2015-03-11): At reader Bill Cheeseman’s suggestion, I tried running Oracle’s Java installer, with different results than Newman’s:<\/p>\n