Audacity Is Now A Possible Spyware

[FlyingPenguin]

I did a little research and the last version before they sold it to Muse was 2.4.2. After it was sold they released 3.0, so you can assume all the 3.x.x versions are questionable.

You can still download the older versions from their legacy download page here: https://www.fosshub.com/Audacity-old.html
Version 2.2.1 was the last one that's guaranteed to work with Windows 7, so I grabbed that and 2.4.2.

I'm just checked my installed copy, and I'm still on v2.1.2, which does everything I need.

There's also a couple of forks in the works.

https://fosspost.org/audacity-is-now-a-spyware/

[Executioner]

Thanks for that update. I think everyone knew they would do this.

[GuardianAsher]

I don't understand why companies think they can get away with this with FOSS software. Figured they would have learned their lesson from OpenOffice and Sun/Oracle.

[GuardianAsher]

Looks like Muse Group responded to the accusations:

Audacity owner Muse Group responds to ‘spyware’ claims regarding the free and open-source audio editor
https://www.musicradar.com/news/audacity-spyware-claims

TL;DR, 'unclear phrasing' in the legal agreements, we're not collecting your data to sell

I don't buy it.

[Executioner]

There is also this alternative: https://www.ocenaudio.com/

[psypher]

There's also this article

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/07 ... t-spyware/

[FlyingPenguin]

No one said it was spyware yet, but given the history of Muse' parent company, no one trusts them.

[Err]

I think I'm on 2.4.2. I had issues with 3.x not being able to process files longer than 60 minutes. The plugins would crash with no error dialog. I've yet to find another DAW that lets me add track markers to a recording and export them as individual tracks. I tried Reaper but couldn't get my head around it.