4 ms·

The real question is this: Is Apple going to eventually make the app store the only way of installing apps on a Mac? I think this is likely and if so is going t

The real question is this: Is Apple going to eventually make the app store the only way of installing apps on a Mac? I think this is likely and if so is going to be the end of the line for me as an Apple customer.

lukifer 15y ago
I draw the line here too. I accept the control tradeoff on iOS because I view them as appliances, not computers, and there are upsides to the curated experience. But if I can't fully control my primary computing device, I'm out. (I'd be okay with the machine shipping in "grandma mode", so long as there's an official way to disable it completely.)
- jayfuerstenberg 15y ago
  Your opinion is valid. There is one way to disable it as these rules still only apply to apps sold via the MAS. Anybody can release software outside of it and just forget about Apple's rules.
  - pyre 15y ago
    I think the fear is that Apple will decide that the MacAppStore is the only way to install software on OSX.
    - droithomme 15y ago
      Not just a fear, but a reasonable conclusion. Obviously sandboxing won't be effective for third party software unless 100% of all third party software is enforced to use sandboxing and won't run without it. It's pretty much an inevitable conclusion that that is coming because the system doesn't work unless you go all or nothing.
- pyre 15y ago
  Wait until you void your AppleCare if you disable 'grandma mode.' Or until any third party decides that they will only support Macs in 'grandma mode.'
- gte910h 15y ago
  Huh? They're just talking about selling things in the Appstore. They're not stopping people who don't distribute this way.
  - lukifer 15y ago
    For now. We're talking about a hypothetical future under 10.8+. I don't expect it to change, but neither would it surprise me much.
glassx 15y ago
Actually, the real question is: what would Apple gain from killing 90% of the app ecosystem? There are some apps that can't be really sandboxed (Little Snitch, virtualization tools), some apps you can't sell on the AppStore (video/audio/photoshop plugins) and there's even Apple apps that aren't available there yet (Logic, Filemaker, ). Also, Macs are the only way to write OS X and iOS apps, it would make the barrier to entry way too high for most people, shutting off potential developers. How would you write, say, your Rails backend to your iOS app, on your Mac, if it was locked down? But yeah, I would jump ship to Linux immediately as well.
- dman 15y ago
  A 30% cut of the remaining 10%.
- Groxx 15y ago
  Gain? 30% of all application sales, instead of 30% of 10%. I don't think they'll lock it down to the app store either, but there are plenty of essentially-reasonable reasons why they could/would.
  - glassx 15y ago
    Except they repeatedly said they're just above cut-even on the iOS AppStore. It's strongly doubtful that they'd do something like that purely for financial reasons. I don't think they are that dumb, of course they know they would lose customers like us.
    - danieldk 15y ago
      Indeed! Look at a novice Mac user, and you understand why Apple built the MAS. No matter how easy software installation was, the process was still difficult for most users (how to handle a bundle, package, zip file). The MAS has streamlined both installation and paying for an application. Also, it's what people who bought a Mac because of the iPhone/iPad halo effect expect.
  - ugh 15y ago
extension 15y ago
Locking down OSX would be an epic technical and social battle. I can't think of any reason they would go to war with their power users just to do that, especially since they already have a curated platform. They probably just want to give novice users a safe, curated experience by default.
- kennywinker 15y ago
  I can absolutely see them doing this... and SOON. Give the MAS ecosystem a year, two at most, to mature. There WILL be a switch somewhere, in the system prefs... a defaults write command... why? Because of Adobe, ProTools, Microsoft, and to a lesser extent stuff like homebrew and macports.
  - ugh 15y ago
    If there is a switch then there’s no problem. There would be no social battle. (Some people would be annoyed but that’s about it.) I can absolutely see Apple adding such a switch and activating it by default. It wouldn’t be a big deal. (Well, I think Apple technically already added that switch. As far as I know Parental Controls can be set up in a way to only allow apps from the App Store.)
bonch 15y ago
> Is Apple going to eventually make the app store the only way of installing apps on a Mac? Why would they? What benefit would that bring?

lukifer 15y ago

I draw the line here too. I accept the control tradeoff on iOS because I view them as appliances, not computers, and there are upsides to the curated experience. But if I can't fully control my primary computing device, I'm out. (I'd be okay with the machine shipping in "grandma mode", so long as there's an official way to disable it completely.)

jayfuerstenberg 15y ago
Your opinion is valid. There is one way to disable it as these rules still only apply to apps sold via the MAS. Anybody can release software outside of it and just forget about Apple's rules.
- pyre 15y ago
  I think the fear is that Apple will decide that the MacAppStore is the only way to install software on OSX.
  - droithomme 15y ago
    Not just a fear, but a reasonable conclusion. Obviously sandboxing won't be effective for third party software unless 100% of all third party software is enforced to use sandboxing and won't run without it. It's pretty much an inevitable conclusion that that is coming because the system doesn't work unless you go all or nothing.
pyre 15y ago
Wait until you void your AppleCare if you disable 'grandma mode.' Or until any third party decides that they will only support Macs in 'grandma mode.'
gte910h 15y ago
Huh? They're just talking about selling things in the Appstore. They're not stopping people who don't distribute this way.
- lukifer 15y ago
  For now. We're talking about a hypothetical future under 10.8+. I don't expect it to change, but neither would it surprise me much.

glassx 15y ago

Actually, the real question is: what would Apple gain from killing 90% of the app ecosystem? There are some apps that can't be really sandboxed (Little Snitch, virtualization tools), some apps you can't sell on the AppStore (video/audio/photoshop plugins) and there's even Apple apps that aren't available there yet (Logic, Filemaker, ). Also, Macs are the only way to write OS X and iOS apps, it would make the barrier to entry way too high for most people, shutting off potential developers. How would you write, say, your Rails backend to your iOS app, on your Mac, if it was locked down? But yeah, I would jump ship to Linux immediately as well.

dman 15y ago
A 30% cut of the remaining 10%.
Groxx 15y ago
Gain? 30% of all application sales, instead of 30% of 10%. I don't think they'll lock it down to the app store either, but there are plenty of essentially-reasonable reasons why they could/would.
- glassx 15y ago
  Except they repeatedly said they're just above cut-even on the iOS AppStore. It's strongly doubtful that they'd do something like that purely for financial reasons. I don't think they are that dumb, of course they know they would lose customers like us.
  - danieldk 15y ago
    Indeed! Look at a novice Mac user, and you understand why Apple built the MAS. No matter how easy software installation was, the process was still difficult for most users (how to handle a bundle, package, zip file). The MAS has streamlined both installation and paying for an application. Also, it's what people who bought a Mac because of the iPhone/iPad halo effect expect.
- ugh 15y ago

extension 15y ago

Locking down OSX would be an epic technical and social battle. I can't think of any reason they would go to war with their power users just to do that, especially since they already have a curated platform. They probably just want to give novice users a safe, curated experience by default.

kennywinker 15y ago
I can absolutely see them doing this... and SOON. Give the MAS ecosystem a year, two at most, to mature. There WILL be a switch somewhere, in the system prefs... a defaults write command... why? Because of Adobe, ProTools, Microsoft, and to a lesser extent stuff like homebrew and macports.
- ugh 15y ago
  If there is a switch then there’s no problem. There would be no social battle. (Some people would be annoyed but that’s about it.) I can absolutely see Apple adding such a switch and activating it by default. It wouldn’t be a big deal. (Well, I think Apple technically already added that switch. As far as I know Parental Controls can be set up in a way to only allow apps from the App Store.)

bonch 15y ago

> Is Apple going to eventually make the app store the only way of installing apps on a Mac? Why would they? What benefit would that bring?