5 ms·

We are entering the dark ages rapidly. Soon you will no longer be allowed to install what you want. Sorry! That app is illegal now. All under the bullshit reaso

We are entering the dark ages rapidly. Soon you will no longer be allowed to install what you want. Sorry! That app is illegal now. All under the bullshit reason of safety/security. We can have both without setting everything up for an orwellian state.

conradfr 5y ago
Coincidentally last year (and this year) in many places in the world you couldn't go where you wanted for the same reason.
phendrenad2 5y ago
Every year since 1995 has been "The Year of Not Being Able To Install What You Want". And yet, here we are, still sideloading on Android and running bare .EXEs on Windows. It's the hot take that keeps giving!
- josephcsible 5y ago
  It started on just niche devices like the TiVo. It's been slowly branching out to more and more devices since then. Also, have you never seen an Android device where sideloading was disabled and you couldn't re-enable it? Because I have.
  - phendrenad2 5y ago
    Is it really expanding though? The market for devices is also expanding. Don't confuse absolute numbers with relative numbers. Of course I have encountered devices that don't allow sideloading, are you saying that is expanding also? Or has "rooting" always been something many carriers and manufacturers sought to disable?
    - josephcsible 5y ago
      In both absolute and relative terms. Basically every new computing device that's not a desktop or laptop is locked down in some way, and even some laptops are locked down too (e.g., Windows RT on ARM laptops).
      - phendrenad2 5y ago
        All Android devices are locked down? That's not true, most Android devices can be "rooted" quite easily.
  - mdp2021 5y ago
    Then kindly reveal which Android devices are this crippled - not being able to install software the normal way, via ADB - so we can avoid them. I also wonder: how can you develop on them? Android Studio would fail app deployment, the way you tell it.
    - salamandersauce 5y ago
      You don't develop on them. That's the point. One device I know of that doesn't allow sideloading or developer mode is the Ratta Supernote A5X/A6X.
bluescrn 5y ago
We entered that age a decade ago with the rise of smartphones and tablets. General-purpose computing devices that allow you to run any code you want are gradually disappearing. For how long will we be able to run unsigned code on Windows or MacOS? And for how long will 'secure boot' hardware allow us to run Linux? Soon we'll have to buy very expensive and specialised development kits/development workstations to create content for the other 'content consumption computing' devices
- wongarsu 5y ago
  On Android I can still run whatever software I want, and there are ecosystems of apps that rely solely on sideloading because they are not allowed on Google's app store. Google or Microsoft trying to prevent you from running whatever you want would probably lead to swift action from EU courts, it looks too much like an attempt to control competition on their platform. So instead they stick to scare-mongering with opt-out. Apple gets a pass because they are the underdog (30% market share in the EU)
  - bluescrn 5y ago
    > On Android I can still run whatever software I want You can sideload apps, which is better than iOS, but for root access most devices need some sort of hackery. Heck, why do we even accept that 'sideload' is a word. It should simply be 'load'.
    - alerighi 5y ago
      Depends on the manufacturer, on a lot of phones getting root access is not that difficult. The problem is that a lot of applications started to check for root access and will refuse to work if they detect it. So in practice you will loose some functionality that can be important, like your bank application.
      - josephcsible 5y ago
        It's not just individual bank apps. Netflix, Snapchat, Android Pay, Pokemon Go, and Super Mario Run will all refuse to run if they detect root or any other modifications.

conradfr 5y ago

Coincidentally last year (and this year) in many places in the world you couldn't go where you wanted for the same reason.

phendrenad2 5y ago

Every year since 1995 has been "The Year of Not Being Able To Install What You Want". And yet, here we are, still sideloading on Android and running bare .EXEs on Windows. It's the hot take that keeps giving!

josephcsible 5y ago
It started on just niche devices like the TiVo. It's been slowly branching out to more and more devices since then. Also, have you never seen an Android device where sideloading was disabled and you couldn't re-enable it? Because I have.
- phendrenad2 5y ago
  Is it really expanding though? The market for devices is also expanding. Don't confuse absolute numbers with relative numbers. Of course I have encountered devices that don't allow sideloading, are you saying that is expanding also? Or has "rooting" always been something many carriers and manufacturers sought to disable?
  - josephcsible 5y ago
    In both absolute and relative terms. Basically every new computing device that's not a desktop or laptop is locked down in some way, and even some laptops are locked down too (e.g., Windows RT on ARM laptops).
    - phendrenad2 5y ago
      All Android devices are locked down? That's not true, most Android devices can be "rooted" quite easily.
- mdp2021 5y ago
  Then kindly reveal which Android devices are this crippled - not being able to install software the normal way, via ADB - so we can avoid them. I also wonder: how can you develop on them? Android Studio would fail app deployment, the way you tell it.
  - salamandersauce 5y ago
    You don't develop on them. That's the point. One device I know of that doesn't allow sideloading or developer mode is the Ratta Supernote A5X/A6X.

bluescrn 5y ago

We entered that age a decade ago with the rise of smartphones and tablets. General-purpose computing devices that allow you to run any code you want are gradually disappearing. For how long will we be able to run unsigned code on Windows or MacOS? And for how long will 'secure boot' hardware allow us to run Linux? Soon we'll have to buy very expensive and specialised development kits/development workstations to create content for the other 'content consumption computing' devices

wongarsu 5y ago
On Android I can still run whatever software I want, and there are ecosystems of apps that rely solely on sideloading because they are not allowed on Google's app store. Google or Microsoft trying to prevent you from running whatever you want would probably lead to swift action from EU courts, it looks too much like an attempt to control competition on their platform. So instead they stick to scare-mongering with opt-out. Apple gets a pass because they are the underdog (30% market share in the EU)
- bluescrn 5y ago
  > On Android I can still run whatever software I want You can sideload apps, which is better than iOS, but for root access most devices need some sort of hackery. Heck, why do we even accept that 'sideload' is a word. It should simply be 'load'.
  - alerighi 5y ago
    Depends on the manufacturer, on a lot of phones getting root access is not that difficult. The problem is that a lot of applications started to check for root access and will refuse to work if they detect it. So in practice you will loose some functionality that can be important, like your bank application.
    - josephcsible 5y ago
      It's not just individual bank apps. Netflix, Snapchat, Android Pay, Pokemon Go, and Super Mario Run will all refuse to run if they detect root or any other modifications.