CCleaner is probably the most popular temporary file and data cleaning software for Windows. There are other programs out there that do more or less the same. There is Windows' own Disk Cleanup tool for instance or third party applications like BleachBit or System Ninja which do a solid job at removing temp files and data from systems as well.
CCleaner ships with an winapp.ini file that contains the locations, files, folders and Registry keys, of data that it can clean. Anyone can extend the basic cleaning functionality by creating a winapp2.ini file that can be loaded into CCleaner to add support for other programs and data locations on the system.
One of the best custom lists is provided by the Winapp2. Anyone can download the curated file to import it into CCleaner, BleachBit, System Ninja or another compatible program. Users who prefer an automated option can use CCEnhancer instead which integrates the data file into CCleaner automatically.
It appears that Piriform, the company behind CCleaner, has contacted the author of BleachBit, to remove the import feature for that file from the software program. The email mentions that importing CCleaner data into third party programs is against the terms of use of CCleaner, and that the company therefore requests the removal of the feature.
What makes this request dubious is that BleachBit does not extract the winapp2.ini file from CCleaner. It instead downloads it from the Internet or recognizes it if the user moves it into its program directory.
What's clear though is that Piriform is using an article published here on Ghacks as reference. I admit that the article was not very clear in some points and I have edited it to make it clearer. While it is possible that Piriform based the email solely on the article, I'd assume that the company ran tests of their own before contacting the BleachBit project owner as it would be foolish to rely on a single article without double-checking whether what is being said in the article is true or not.
The author's post made the frontpage of Slashdot which will certainly bring it to the attention of a wider audience. What's your take on this?
Update: The issue has been resolved and as suspected, it was a misunderstanding.
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