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The arrival of third-party app stores will make it possible to run GPLed apps on non-jailbroken iPhones, right?
by leoc 4y ago
The arrival of third-party app stores will make it possible to run GPLed apps on non-jailbroken iPhones, right?
- oneplane 4y agoI don't think the license matters at all, but you may not be able to upload something you can't prove ownership of, and there is still the notary requirement to run, it only changes the distribution channel after all. What you could maybe do is do reproducible builds, staple the notarised x509 on it afterwards. Then you can 'prove' it is the same app, but still have the signed version in distribution.
- noirscape 4y agoMost likely, yes. The entire iOS GPL ban to my understanding only exists due to a combination of an iOS App Store policy that's weirdly enforced (who is surprised...) and the fact that Apple's own code signer is required to be able to distribute an iOS app, and that one is proprietary because Apple, which means you can't use other people's GPL libraries in your apps.
- madeofpalk 4y agoIt's highly likely that apps will still required to be signed by Apple, even if distributed outside the Apple App Store, just like Gatekeeper on the Mac.
- saagarjha 4y agoYou can do this already.
- leoc 4y agoIt does looks as if the situation is a lot more complex than I thought I remembered. Apparently the uncertainties seem to affect GPLv2 code more?