Downloading software without bloatware

From time to time, I find myself needing a piece of software to perform a specific task. Download.com (CNET) used to be a good site. But now, I find that they bundle a lot of "evilware", i.e. bloatware/adware (spyware?). Despite my best efforts to decline the unwanted items, I frequently end up with a "modified web browser experience" afterwards.

Any sensible approach on how to go about this problem, things being what currently they are?

Solution 1:

I take it you're referring to windows programs? I circumvented the whole problem by using Linux Mint (and even keeping installed packages to a minimum with --no-install-recommends & a similar option in Synaptic/apt.conf).

It's got Firefox, Chromium, Opera, LibreOffice, Flash Player, GIMP, tons of excellent "evilware-free" software.

But if your heart's set on Windows... Can't believe I actually forgot about this Windows solution I read about last year (on How-To Geek or Lifehacker or MakeUseOf) for installing & updating freeware on Windows (but I don't use windows, so...) Here's an image & bit of the intro from the How-To Geek page:

https://ninite.com/

How-To Geek says " Ninite is the Only Safe Place to Get Windows Freeware":

Ninite is a free tool that automatically downloads, installs, and updates various Windows programs for you, skipping past the evil toolbar offers. For Windows users, Ninite is arguably the only really safe place to get freeware.

[Not sure if I should have added another answer for Ninite, but when I tried superuser.com urged me to edit this one -- I'll bet they'd get in trouble trying to sell freeware, though they have a paid auto-updater and network manager so that's how they stay in business, hopefully not by bothering us ;-) I have no connection to ninite.com - I've only used it once to help a friend, and it seems to answer the question very well for Windows]

Solution 2:

In addition to what has been suggested, you'll find that by preferring open source software to closed source will generally take care of this problem for you. Instead of CNET, look on Sourceforge and GitHub and you'll find much better software.

Update

Many have also mentioned Chocolatey. It is definitely a big piece of the full puzzle. In general, command line installation is best for most applications because it allows you to write simple scripts to go from fresh install to a fully updated machine, unattended. Your script might look something like:

REM Add driver installation here or make that a separate script.

@powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -Command "iex ((new-object net.webclient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin

cd %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin
choco install googlechrome apache2 mysql php myadmin

REM You can even use it to install applications which can install from GitHub or Sourceforge:
choco install git
choco install svn

REM NOW YOU CAN
REM git clone https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress
REM **OR**
REM svn co http://core.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/ .

Note: This is just a rough outline of something you might use. Many tweaks are probably needed.