hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?
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We used to use it because of the travel, but have been avoiding it for a while now.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
We used to use it because of the travel, but have been avoiding it for a while now.
I'm surprised you don't VPN directly into your house, lol.
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@dafyre What house? There nomads =P
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@dafyre What house? There nomads =P
For some reason I thought they still had a house state side. If nothing else, he can VPN in to the Scale lab or something
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@jrc said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
I'd not use it. The "free" aspect of it worries the hell out of me, they have to make money somehow.
Hola generates revenue by selling a commercial version of the Hola VPN service to businesses (through our Luminati brand)
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@jrc said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
I'd not use it. The "free" aspect of it worries the hell out of me, they have to make money somehow.
Hola generates revenue by selling a commercial version of the Hola VPN service to businesses (through our Luminati brand)
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
Yeah, but to be honest I am the same way... for some reason, paying for a services makes it seems like it will be around in the long run.
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Luminati sells Hola users' bandwidth. That doesn't sound like a loss leader.
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@Carnival-Boy said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Luminati sells Hola users' bandwidth. That doesn't sound like a loss leader.
We know that Hola is bad. We weren't discussing that, we were discussing the reaction to services have a loss leader and questioning the "free". Hola sells all users, not just free ones AFAIK.
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
Yeah, but to be honest I am the same way... for some reason, paying for a services makes it seems like it will be around in the long run.
That's the reason many people say that Linux certainly died by 1995.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
That's the reason many people say that Linux certainly died by 1995.
Point Taken
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
We know that Hola is bad. We weren't discussing that, we were discussing the reaction to services have a loss leader and questioning the "free".
It's not a loss leader. That's my point.
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@Carnival-Boy said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
We know that Hola is bad. We weren't discussing that, we were discussing the reaction to services have a loss leader and questioning the "free".
It's not a loss leader. That's my point.
We don't know that. That the sell the data doesn't tell us that it is profitable or if it is still a loss leader for selling the paid product.
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No, we don't know. So you can't call it a loss leader.
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@Carnival-Boy said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
No, we don't know. So you can't call it a loss leader.
I didn't. I spoke about emotional reactions to loss leaders as a general thing that IT people seem to react to.
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Interesting. If you pay for the premium subscription, your never used as an peer (exit node)
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@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
Interesting. If you pay for the premium subscription, your never used as an peer (exit node)
Yeah, basically... just avoid them.
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Okay, thanks for all the input. It confirms my suspicions were warranted. I will avoid hola.org at home for sure. When traveling as well.
I paid a 1-year subscription to FrootVPN.com and it ended a few months ago. Was extremely happy with their service and speed and highly recommend them. I was just curious about a free alternative.
FrootVPN is cheap enough anyways, I'll just get another 1-year subscription and be done with it.
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@scottalanmiller said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@aaronstuder said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
@jrc said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
I'd not use it. The "free" aspect of it worries the hell out of me, they have to make money somehow.
Hola generates revenue by selling a commercial version of the Hola VPN service to businesses (through our Luminati brand)
Yes, there is a weird emotional response to loss leaders that I've noticed in IT.
I have no emotional reaction to such things, I merely remain sceptical and ask how it is something can be offered for free, what is the provider getting out of it. In most cases it boils down to ad revenue, but sometimes it can be far more nefarious and I don't want to blindly hand over my soul just to get a shiny toy.
At least when it comes to a paid product the exchange is very clear and easily understood on both ends. I give them money, they use that money to provide said service and make a profit. Simple, time tested. In the case of a free service they provide the service and I give them, what? My eyes to see some ads? Or perhaps my bandwidth to be used be others? My personal private data? You get the idea.
That said, Hola in particular is not one I'd use. I have read many bad things after I used them for a brief amount of time a few years ago.
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@jrc said in hola.org - Anyone familiar with it?:
At least when it comes to a paid product the exchange is very clear and easily understood on both ends. I give them money, they use that money to provide said service and make a profit. Simple, time tested.
So are loss leaders. Just as time honoured and tested. The problem is associated a concern of risk with the free product and not the paid one. Simply accepting money does not change the risk. This is the security concern - that simply by being free the reaction is one of concern, but by charging money the reaction to risk is reduced. Your risk concern should be the same in both cases, there is no specific concern with free, there is no specific safety in paying.
