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This is macho-computing bullshit, the same as the 1980s "it's a toy unless it's a command line". For most users, SIP increases ownership and control. Chrome ca

This is macho-computing bullshit, the same as the 1980s "it's a toy unless it's a command line". For most users, SIP increases ownership and control. Chrome can no longer make your Mac unbootable.[0] Journalists and human rights activists can be slightly less afraid of rootkits that can put their lives at risk. Teenagers can worry less about RATs that access their webcams and blackmail them. Companies can deploy these machines with greater confidence that trade secrets won't be stolen. There's a reason Microsoft, Apple, and even Fedora[1] are all moving in the same direction. Most of the time, modifying system binaries is not done in users' interest: it's either malware, or it's "legitimate" large software vendors who couldn't write proper code at gunpoint, yet feel entitled to take over your kernel, make it unstable and increase its attack surface (look at Windows antivirus makers in the '90s and early '00s. Just look at how ISVs lobby against these security measures: [2]). [0]: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/no-it-wasnt-a-virus-it-was-chrome-that-stopped-macs-from-booting/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/09/no-it... [1]: https://fedoramagazine.org/what-is-silverblue/ https://fedoramagazine.org/what-is-silverblue/ [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_Patch_Protection#Criticisms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_Patch_Protection#Critic...

xp84 4y ago
Like I said. They have a point. You’re not wrong that all kinds of security threats have been neutralized by this change. It’s just sad for those of us who remember that by virtue of being a computer, all aspects of the system were customizable if you were determined enough. There were entire ecosystems of customizations and hacks available 20 years ago on both Mac and Windows. I’m not really sure what the Windows customization scene is really like these days, but essentially it’s over on the Mac. Even things like clipboard managers, I assume will be broken in the next couple of years, because it will be considered too much of a security threat to allow an app to monitor the Clipboard.

xp84 4y ago

Like I said. They have a point. You’re not wrong that all kinds of security threats have been neutralized by this change. It’s just sad for those of us who remember that by virtue of being a computer, all aspects of the system were customizable if you were determined enough. There were entire ecosystems of customizations and hacks available 20 years ago on both Mac and Windows. I’m not really sure what the Windows customization scene is really like these days, but essentially it’s over on the Mac. Even things like clipboard managers, I assume will be broken in the next couple of years, because it will be considered too much of a security threat to allow an app to monitor the Clipboard.