'C:\> FORMAT C:' – relax, it's just a screen saver

 (fakedos.com)

50 points | by TheIncredibleCh 5 hours ago

18 comments

  • jrmg 1 hour ago
    This is cool - but…

    It’s an app, not a system-integrated[1] screensaver?

    > Installation

    > Drag FakeDOS.app into /Applications.

    > Double-click to launch. It installs itself as a menu-bar icon.

    > Click the menu-bar icon to configure or start manually.

    > After the configured idle time (default: 5 min), FakeDOS takes over fullscreen.

    > Type EXIT to return to your real desktop.

    > Cmd + , opens six pages of pure control: idle time, warp speed, the ghost writer, sound and more. The PC speaker can be silenced. Your co-workers cannot.

    [1]: ScreenSaver.framework: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/screensaver

    [-]
    • kmoser 29 minutes ago
      If they had made it as a website, anybody could use it.
    • bowsamic 48 minutes ago
      I'm surprised that the LLM that was used to vibecode this didn't point it out
  • Tsarbomb 1 hour ago
    Maybe I'm blind, but is this closed source?
    [-]
    • creatonez 1 hour ago
      Yup. OP wants you to download a sketchy closed source screensaver from an obnoxiously vibecoded website that looks identical to the scourge of phishing pages currently going after random open source projects in a fully automated way.
      [-]
      • TheIncredibleCh 42 minutes ago
        Things aren't always what they seem. Sometimes it's just for fun.
      • hollowonepl 48 minutes ago
        Finally some comment that actually makes sense here! :)
  • RedShift1 24 minutes ago
    What exactly is this? Site doesn't work for me (ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR). Gathering from the other comments, some screensaver that shows a DOS prompt?
    [-]
    • rickdeckard 1 minute ago
      > "Gathering from the other comments, some screensaver that shows a DOS prompt?"

      Kinda worse. Some Mac application that acts as a screensaver and shows a DOS-prompt when idle...

      Either way, I like the idea of getting people to install and configure fun apps which then know exactly when a PC is not in use.

      Could be a useful swarm of devices...

  • Gormo 1 hour ago
    Reminds me of the 'BSOD' module from Xscreensaver.
    [-]
  • rlv-dan 1 hour ago
    Way back I hacked together a VB6 application (don't remember what it did) but after a while it popped up a new window that faked a DOS prompt formatting the c drive. Then I send it to my best bud on April 1st with a message "Hey, check out this new program I made!" :-)
  • numpad0 3 hours ago
    gives me SSL_ERROR_INTERNAL_ERROR_ALERT on Firefox
    [-]
    • thehamkercat 3 hours ago
      same on Chrome, maybe it's real DOS
      [-]
      • RedShift1 1 hour ago
        Doesn't work for me either.
      • tosti 2 hours ago
        DOS has been DoS'd
  • 1970-01-01 2 hours ago
    The quantum fireball was a nice touch.
  • Bengalilol 3 hours ago
    I was site visitor 0001101 (hit return).

    I will get back until counter reaches 01000110 01010010 01001101 01000001 01010100 00100000 01000011 00111010

  • breakwaterlabs 59 minutes ago
    Things not on my bingo card: Watching Hacker News denizens download, install, and run vibecoded Mac apps from sketchy vibecoded websites with TLS issues.
    [-]
    • Boxxed 35 minutes ago
      There is also something about this being Mac-only that feels really dumb or really fitting, I can't quite put my finger on it.
      [-]
      • kmoser 33 minutes ago
        The delicious irony is that it's written for a platform that never ran MS-DOS.
    • nathanaldensr 51 minutes ago
      It's time to vibedesign a new bingo card!
  • rickdeckard 5 minutes ago
    This would be more trustworthy (and portable) as a website (Would have maybe also needed less tokens to produce)

    Instead it's a somewhat sketchy app that by design happens to know exactly when my PC is not in use...

  • vunderba 24 minutes ago
    Anyone else append something like this to AUTOEXEC.BAT as a kid at school? We were a right bunch of bastards.

      @echo off
  echo FORMAT /Q C:
  echo ALL FILES REMOVED 
  SET DIRCMD=0
    I think a lot about my poor teachers and this Calvin quote comes to mind.

    https://imgur.com/a/eX4UKLk

  • qubex 2 hours ago
    You couldn’t run a format command when within the disk you were trying to format. You’d need to (for example) cd A: and then format c:.

    Deltree, on the other hand…

    [-]
    • foobarian 2 hours ago
      There was a secret option at one point 'FORMAT C: /AUTOTEST'
    • stuaxo 2 hours ago
      The favourite of naughty kids in computer shops with Windows 95
      [-]
  • jasomill 1 hour ago
    I'll stick with 86Box and DOSBox and try not to run FORMAT C: without backups.
  • hdgvhicv 3 hours ago
    32768MB of ram?

    Yeah, that’s wrong.

    [-]
    • TheIncredibleCh 2 hours ago
      Thanks for the hint, and very old bug from the beginning, forgotten in space and time....

      Fixed!

    • trollbridge 2 hours ago
      FP4 vs FP8 strikes again…
  • snvzz 2 hours ago
    Ah. Again[0].

    0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROQSw6jqJO8

  • fortran77 1 hour ago
    It amusing how Mac users yearn for the PC experience. They know they're missing out on something great, but they can't or won't leave their cult.
    [-]
    • wtch98 1 hour ago
      Except dos isn't the PC experience. It was back in the 90s when you'd edit your config.sys and autoexec.bat to shift your himem settings so you could run a given game with your soundblaster

      That world doesn't exist any more, whether you're on a mac, linux, or any other OS.