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I think this is a really really bad idea. No more app stores. As a developer, app stores have always seem totally stupid to me. I remember when computers were a

I think this is a really really bad idea. No more app stores. As a developer, app stores have always seem totally stupid to me. I remember when computers were actually things that you felt like you owned completely. Now, your computer is owned by people that run app stores. Github still seems like it's a company that understands its role as an intermediary. It hasn't yet tried to take over the world like everyone else and I hope it never does.

dukeyukey 6y ago
Snap and apt are basically app stores, albeit ones where everything is free. They're just repositories of trusted programs that are easy install and easy to keep updated.
- SulfurHexaFluri 6y ago
  Snap is another locked down platform where the Canonical repo is hardcoded in to the tool. Flatpak is a much better platform where you can specify your own repo source like flathub or any other source you want.
Forge36 6y ago
To a degree: pre-internet security relied very heavily on: physical access, physical software (Floppy Disk or CD and bought at a physical store). With both of those restrictions eliminated with the internet there's two security venues: bugs in Software with remote access without authentication, and code execution access (currently handled via several security access levels). The later has proven difficult as it's gone from "1" unlimited via physical access to "distrust the user". App stores being the latest version of trust with perhaps Apple iPhone as one of the highest examples and most restrictive (presently in the name of user privacy vs Facebook). Github is also "1:many" in terms of supported devices supported. Once an app store exists, the number supported platforms is constrained. The door is opened to competitors to host both a repository and an app store for another platform. Omitting the app store the ecosystem remains neutral to which device runs the end result
xenadu02 6y ago
YOU felt like you owned your computer because you're a tech nerd, software developer, or similar. That is not the feeling a "Wild West" environment gives to 99% of people using these devices. It is much closer to Russian Roulette than anything else. Killing app stores would paradoxically dramatically shrink the market for software and cause massive consolidation on the developer side. The big players with big budgets and marketing clout would survive but it would devestate most others and shrink the overall market by 40-50%. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why by applying the same principles folks on HN use every day to optimize customer acquisitions, increase ARR, etc. When every app asks for your credit card (and they would) you automatically shrink the funnel dramatically. That doesn't even begin to consider all the scams, subscriptions you can't actually cancel, or malware that deliberately subverts sandboxes or plays silent audio to continuously run in the background to kill your battery. There's a natural incentive if stores compete for developers: reduce commissions. The end result of that is get rid of review or any other quality control standards because those things cost money. The large players won't participate because they'll want to keep everything for themselves. You can forget about anything that improves privacy or makes your life easier as an end user. For end users the bar to jump through all those hoops and take on the security and financial risks will be much higher. They will buy less software. It amazes me how quickly some of my fellow nerds will fall into the same myopic traps over and over without consideration for the other 99% who aren't computer experts. And without consideration for what it takes to actually run and be successful in business. Just because it would be more convenient for them personally.
- conductr 6y ago
  Does Windows use an app store these days? They might have one, but my experience is largely I'm still downloading EXE files from a /download page somewhere. But I only use for my work so not installing much. I still feel like the app store on OSX is meh. I download DMG files 99% of the time from a /download page somewhere. Seems to work fine, what am I missing? You're making it sound like app stores have fixed something but I'm failing to see what. Maybe on iOS it gives some exposure/discoverability to new apps. But I don't see that as an overwhelming feature for end users. This used to exist outside of app stores as web based directories and that worked better in my opinion.

dukeyukey 6y ago

Snap and apt are basically app stores, albeit ones where everything is free. They're just repositories of trusted programs that are easy install and easy to keep updated.

SulfurHexaFluri 6y ago
Snap is another locked down platform where the Canonical repo is hardcoded in to the tool. Flatpak is a much better platform where you can specify your own repo source like flathub or any other source you want.

Forge36 6y ago

To a degree: pre-internet security relied very heavily on: physical access, physical software (Floppy Disk or CD and bought at a physical store). With both of those restrictions eliminated with the internet there's two security venues: bugs in Software with remote access without authentication, and code execution access (currently handled via several security access levels). The later has proven difficult as it's gone from "1" unlimited via physical access to "distrust the user". App stores being the latest version of trust with perhaps Apple iPhone as one of the highest examples and most restrictive (presently in the name of user privacy vs Facebook). Github is also "1:many" in terms of supported devices supported. Once an app store exists, the number supported platforms is constrained. The door is opened to competitors to host both a repository and an app store for another platform. Omitting the app store the ecosystem remains neutral to which device runs the end result

xenadu02 6y ago

YOU felt like you owned your computer because you're a tech nerd, software developer, or similar. That is not the feeling a "Wild West" environment gives to 99% of people using these devices. It is much closer to Russian Roulette than anything else. Killing app stores would paradoxically dramatically shrink the market for software and cause massive consolidation on the developer side. The big players with big budgets and marketing clout would survive but it would devestate most others and shrink the overall market by 40-50%. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why by applying the same principles folks on HN use every day to optimize customer acquisitions, increase ARR, etc. When every app asks for your credit card (and they would) you automatically shrink the funnel dramatically. That doesn't even begin to consider all the scams, subscriptions you can't actually cancel, or malware that deliberately subverts sandboxes or plays silent audio to continuously run in the background to kill your battery. There's a natural incentive if stores compete for developers: reduce commissions. The end result of that is get rid of review or any other quality control standards because those things cost money. The large players won't participate because they'll want to keep everything for themselves. You can forget about anything that improves privacy or makes your life easier as an end user. For end users the bar to jump through all those hoops and take on the security and financial risks will be much higher. They will buy less software. It amazes me how quickly some of my fellow nerds will fall into the same myopic traps over and over without consideration for the other 99% who aren't computer experts. And without consideration for what it takes to actually run and be successful in business. Just because it would be more convenient for them personally.

conductr 6y ago
Does Windows use an app store these days? They might have one, but my experience is largely I'm still downloading EXE files from a /download page somewhere. But I only use for my work so not installing much. I still feel like the app store on OSX is meh. I download DMG files 99% of the time from a /download page somewhere. Seems to work fine, what am I missing? You're making it sound like app stores have fixed something but I'm failing to see what. Maybe on iOS it gives some exposure/discoverability to new apps. But I don't see that as an overwhelming feature for end users. This used to exist outside of app stores as web based directories and that worked better in my opinion.