is limewire safe?

[dreamangelz53]

i downloaded limewire onto my powerbook and one day when i took it into the geniusbar at one of the apple stores, the guy told me that limewire messes up the system so it's really bad for my powerbook and i should stop using it immediately...so i guess my question is...is that true? haha cause limewire is the only firesharing program i can find for macs x-X so i just want to know if there are better programs out there? or if limewire is reliable (safe)? =) thanks!

 

[CanadaRAM]

I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

No mater what the assurances are, you are explicitly opening part of your machine to free access by the internet at large.

I think it's an exceedingly bad idea.

 

[calebjohnston]

I wouldn't touch any file-sharing program with a 10 foot pole. They destroy any and all computers, and are generally used for very illegal things.

 

[dreamangelz53]

yea i deleted it right away, but..i guess i was still curious haha

 

[jive]

I have Limewire Pro (obtained through regular Limewire - go figure) and I use it for the odd song but that's all. I dout I've had it running more than 10 minutes since I installed it...

 

[Seasought]

so i guess my question is...is that true? haha cause limewire is the only firesharing program i can find for macs x-X so i just want to know if there are better programs out there? or if limewire is reliable (safe)? =) thanks!

It's not going to destroy your Powerbook. There are other filesharing alternatives for OS X.

I don't recommend leaving it running all the time as having extra open ports is an unnecessary security risk as others have stated.

 

[quigleybc]

It's not going to destroy your Powerbook. There are other filesharing alternatives for OS X.

I don't recommend leaving it running all the time as having extra open ports is an unnecessary security risk as others have stated.

Agreed, P2P is lame, and I havn't even opened Limewire in ages, but it's certainly not going to screw stuff up...

 

[scottlinux]

P2P is not lame. For the record I do not download music. Though being a musician, I do not agree with the RIAA. They make all the money from CDs and the musicians get fractions of a penny per CD. Greedy CEOs screwing artists.

I support non-RIAA artists in buying their music from their own websites, and attend live concerts. I urge others to support their artists, and to NOT support greedy CEOs.

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As for the part about Limewire 'opening a port, making you insecure' That is a ridiculous statement. When you use iChat, Safari, Mail, online video games, any program that access the internet- you are using a port that is 'open' when the program is running. Limewire running makes your computer no less secure than running iChat.

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There are many cases of P2P which ARE legal, and useful. Here is a torrent from Duke.edu, for example:

http://torrent.dulug.duke.edu/

http://www.legaltorrents.com/index.htm

 

[bigandy]

limewire for MacOS X, has been found to be very problematic for my friends and i.

try Acquisition (here) - one of the best mac programmes ever written, let alone p2p!

check out his "Inquisitor" programme too - it's sweeet