daniel:// stenberg://Apr 24, 2023

Do NOT. I repeat. Do NOT remove curl.exe from your Windows System32 folder to silence a (stupid) security scanner. It will lead to tears and sorrows.

And if you do, please don't ask *me* for help when you've broken your Windows install. I can't fix that.

Show threaddaniel:// stenberg://

Why do people remove it? Because NVD has exaggerated a curl security flaw to an inflated level, and now "security scanners" insist that the bundled curl executable has a "high severity" security flaw and scaremongers people into removing it.

And then they realize Windows update refuses to work.

Are we sure this is the best we can do?

Apr 24, 2023 at 6:40amWeb
Show threadRichard IbbotsonApr 24, 2023

<shrug> This is only one reason why I got rid of Microsoft products 23 years. I've been using GNU/Linux ever since.

@bagder

Show threadKevin Karhan Apr 24, 2023

@richardibbo @bagder+9001%

I've been #Windows-free for 10 years and the only regret I have is not committing myself to the switch 5 years earlier!!!

Show threadArneBabApr 24, 2023

@kkarhan I’ve always been windows-free, but 2006 I got rid of macOS for good. I did look back and regretted a few things, but mostly I’m happy to be on GNU/Linux.

You can still see a broken-layout static version of my blog from back then on http://bah.draketo.de
@richardibbo @bagder

Broken Apple Heart

Show threadgunstickApr 24, 2023
@richardibbo @bagder I even did not need to ged rid of Microsoft as I never started to use them. After a short NeXTstep period it was linux all the way.
Show threadRichard IbbotsonApr 24, 2023

I started on winduhs (As I call it) at the University of Sheffield in the 1990's. First degree in chemistry. We had to use 16 bit networking. With Novell NetWare (get that brick ready). Winduhs for workgroups 3.11. Windsock DLL. I thought that was rotten until winduhs 98 and ME came along. At which point someone in the Department of Chemistry pointed out that he had to build his own i686 machine with dual processors to do anything with Linux 🥱

@gunstick @bagder

Show threadutzer [Friendica]Apr 24, 2023
@bagder well, those removing the curl.exe, can easily download a new curl.exe from somewhere on the internet. 😁
Show threaddaniel:// stenberg://Apr 24, 2023
@Utzer that's exactly what they did and thought. And yes, they could and did. And then Windows update does not work for them anymore.
Show threadutzer [Friendica]Apr 24, 2023
@bagder oh, so you mean even if you get the right exe, say copied from the other computer, it still does not work?
Show threaddaniel:// stenberg://Apr 24, 2023
@Utzer I don't know exactly what has been tested or not so I can't tell. I suspect something like that *could* be done to restore the state.
Show threadCesarApr 24, 2023

@bagder @utzer I haven't used Windows for a long time, but I recall reading that, on modern Windows, a lot of the files in system32 are actually hardlinks to files in winsxs. If that's the case for curl.exe, just restoring the file might not be enough, since windows update might need it to still be a hardlink to the correct place.

The correct solution is most probably to use a command to reinstall the file from the original copy, be it winsxs, the install media, or even windows update.

Show threadutzer [Friendica]Apr 24, 2023
@cesarb ah, I don't really use Windows as well, I just remember this was working in Windows XP and maybe in 7. @bagder
Show threadMorgan GangwereApr 24, 2023

@bagder WU doesn't use curl though, it uses BITS/WinInet.

I'd be Very Curious to know how

Show threadEdwin GroothuisApr 24, 2023
@bagder windows update should use libcurl, not curl.exe. But that is just my two cents on it.
Show threadМя ��Apr 24, 2023
@bagder wait, so you can disable Windows updates THAT easily?? Lmao
Show threadJimmy "Feldon" WirsborgApr 24, 2023
@bagder ah the security programs... love them... during one period in time I had to help my mom to disable all antivirus and firewalls etc so she could install bookkeeping programs and other programs she needed in order to do her work as an accountant... but programs doing stuff with databases locally and over the internet was apparently scary at the time =/
Show threadTorge RosendahlApr 24, 2023
@bagder I think Elon should buy Windows and rewrite it from scratch
Show threadTorge RosendahlOct 30
This hasn't aged well https://mhrdsol.com/
Macrohard Doors

Macrohard Doors - AI-driven software company initiative

Show threadSeán FenianApr 24, 2023
@bagder curl is overused, I think. It's the "When all you have is a hammer..." problem.

A little off-subject, I know...

The Vyatta-based OS on my firewall/router uses curl for all remote operations. Including, for example, uploading configuration backups to a separate host. It performs that commit-archive operation as an scp copy, for which it mystifyingly uses curl. The only possible reason I can conceive to use curl to do scp instead of, like, you know, using scp to do scp, is because it's an easy Swiss-army-knife one-size-fits-all tool that they can use for a dozen supported protocols.

The problem is, they're not all WELL supported. My archive commits were broken for months while I tried, and tried, and tried, fix after fix after fix to make the scp operation using curl work correctly. NONE of them worked. As far as I can tell, most of the people on the relevant forums trying to fix that problem have never succeeded either.

Finally I just patched the relevant script and changed the offending line of code to use scp to perform scp transfers. (Radical, huh?) And just like that, It Just Worked.

Sometimes, the easy Does Everything tool is NOT the right tool for the job. Because they quite seldom do everything well.
Show thread[Yaseenist] CauseOfBSOD  Apr 24, 2023
@bagder honestly just replace windows with linux at this point