Rosyna Analyzes You Control: Fonts

Unsanity’s Rosyna — author of the competing utility FontCard with a brief analysis of how You Control: Fonts accomplishes its app-patching WYSIWYG font menu trickery:

Two, it still patches applications. It (the patching thing, at least) is written by the author of Ittec. Even seems to use the same patching mechanism. When first run, it installs a Scripting Addition into ~/Library/Scripting Additions/ called YouSoftware.osax. It does not tell you this and it installs the software before you even accept the EULA so even if you decline it, it is still there. This scripting addition appears to do all the patching work. Or at least loads the bundle that actually does do the patching work. Seems to do the latter. The bundles are stored at You Control Fonts.app/Contents/PlugIns/FontMenu.bundle/Contents/PlugIns/.

Why am I posting all of this? Their original press release said this about FontCard “…, but also they were slow and used some suspect methods to create their font menus that compromised the stability of your computer.” Suspect methods… This thing is installing a Scripting Addition without even so much as telling you something is getting installed.

★ Tuesday, 13 July 2004