this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
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Have you ever found a GitHub project or anything that seemed nice and tempting to install until you dug a bit deeper?

What are some red flags that should detur anyone from installing and running something?

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[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Requires weird IDE to build

I shifted 8 GB of files to an older machine just to be able to install Android SDK on barely-supported hardware, and now I'm cloning the repo and the .gradle directory alone is 1 GB?

[–] thebustinater@lemmy.zip 1 points 53 minutes ago

I'm amused that you mentioned requiring an IDE and then gave gradle (a standalone build tool) and Android as an example... when I'm pretty sure that ios actually requires xcode (AND an apple account) to build apps

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

"This project has been archived on [10+ years ago]. It is now Read Only."

or

Last commit 5+ years ago

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Depends. Software can be done.

[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 1 points 55 minutes ago
[–] Vex_Detrause@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

When installing if I see a pre-checked check mark I will be more likely to read what the software is trying to install. What are you trying to install now?

[–] the_grass_trainer@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Signing-in before being able to use a FREE software.

-glares at Canva after buying Affinity -

[–] ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world 1 points 48 minutes ago (1 children)

That’s why they bought it

[–] the_grass_trainer@lemmy.world 1 points 40 minutes ago (1 children)

Yeah, but it's still irritating. The only function they added to the software that i use is Image Trace. Otherwise i still use the old Affinity Designer that i bought years ago.

[–] ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world 1 points 31 minutes ago

Serif were always great, I’m a bit doom and gloom on it

[–] prenatal_confusion@feddit.org 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

No stars (although easily manipulated)

No commit history

No issue history

No pr requests (soft no)

No contributions from people with a active history

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 3 points 8 hours ago

Something I do is if a project has way too many stars, click on a few of the names randomly.

If those profiles have 0-1 projects, my yellow flag (not red flag) goes up. Because yeah, it's really easy to buy GitHub stars now.

[–] rodneylives@lemmy.world 10 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

A rule of thumb I use is how desperate the software is to tell you the weather even when you never asked for it or even set it up to report it.

[–] mech@feddit.org 44 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] rekabis@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 hours ago

I can’t believe that marketing people are this fucking stupid.

Like, full-on knuckle-dragging morons.

They intentionally drive away more paying customers than they could ever “channelize” with this method.

Because most people realize that prices are only ever hidden for malicious, anti-consumer purposes.

[–] osanna@lemmy.vg 14 points 17 hours ago

Aaaaaand tab closed.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If the project maintainer has a policy of "no politics allowed."

Rather than a policy more along the lines of "be respectful"

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 5 points 8 hours ago

100%.

Then you look through their history and it's them laugh emojiing something like doing a LGBT suicide or some ridiculous shit.

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