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> please do not submit unmodified (or trivially modified) versions of this application to the App Store I wonder how common this is for mobile applications. C

by y2bd 13y ago

> please do not submit unmodified (or trivially modified) versions of this application to the App Store I wonder how common this is for mobile applications. Considering desktop applications, I've heard that many of the media conversion programs you find on sketchy websites are just reskins of Handbrake.

obeid 13y ago
Very common, and even worse apple can only give two shits about what the original developer thinks.
- gibwell 13y ago
  What do you expect Apple to do? These things are made open source under a permissive license. The whole point is that people can do what they want with the code.
  - yuvipanda 13y ago
    A permissive license is the only one iOS apps can be released under. GPL and the App Store don't go well together (see https://www.fsf.org/news/2010-05-app-store-compliance https://www.fsf.org/news/2010-05-app-store-compliance)
    - gibwell 13y ago
      That is not an answer to my question.
    - ddebernardy 13y ago
      Not sure what your point is here. Seems to me that even if the FSF was happy with the app store, trivial forks and clones of OSS would reach the app store all the same, no?
  - obeid 13y ago
    I was actually talking about clones of closed-source applications.
    - simonh 13y ago
      Given that you were replying to a comment specifically about open source, that wasn't clear. Also if an app is closed source, you have to wonder how the cloner obtained the source in order to re-skin it? Is that sort of industrial espionage, or code decompilation of iOS apps common? You also have to wonder how Apple would know? There are almost half a million apps on the App Store, detailed code analysis of the app binary and comparison with other compiled app binaries on the store is hard enough on an individual basis, and trivially defeated by code obscuration, let alone at app store scale. What are you suggesting Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and other store operators should be doing?
ssprang 13y ago
I've heard that some people are already re-signing and successfully submitting other developer's binaries. So, I suspect there will be some submitted clones eventually. It's possible Apple would reject them for being "too similar" (if they're paying attention). On the other hand, it would be cool if someone used these as a starting point and built something unique.
- niels_olson 13y ago
  Your latest version on the app store is only a few weeks old. You're still giving this love, right? Because this is possibly my favorite app of all time. If it goes away, I'm going to be very sad.
- conradev 13y ago
  Clones always seem to get through. The open source Hacker News client news:yc[1] has had a lot of problems with this in the past. In chronological order: https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291380036269899776 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291380036269899776 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291385819799896064 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291385819799896064 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/303371858340884480 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/303371858340884480 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/308312460551651328 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/308312460551651328 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/315522279519961089 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/315522279519961089 [1] http://newsyc.me http://newsyc.me

by y2bd 13y ago

obeid 13y ago

Very common, and even worse apple can only give two shits about what the original developer thinks.

gibwell 13y ago
What do you expect Apple to do? These things are made open source under a permissive license. The whole point is that people can do what they want with the code.
- yuvipanda 13y ago
  A permissive license is the only one iOS apps can be released under. GPL and the App Store don't go well together (see https://www.fsf.org/news/2010-05-app-store-compliance https://www.fsf.org/news/2010-05-app-store-compliance)
  - gibwell 13y ago
    That is not an answer to my question.
  - ddebernardy 13y ago
    Not sure what your point is here. Seems to me that even if the FSF was happy with the app store, trivial forks and clones of OSS would reach the app store all the same, no?
- obeid 13y ago
  I was actually talking about clones of closed-source applications.
  - simonh 13y ago
    Given that you were replying to a comment specifically about open source, that wasn't clear. Also if an app is closed source, you have to wonder how the cloner obtained the source in order to re-skin it? Is that sort of industrial espionage, or code decompilation of iOS apps common? You also have to wonder how Apple would know? There are almost half a million apps on the App Store, detailed code analysis of the app binary and comparison with other compiled app binaries on the store is hard enough on an individual basis, and trivially defeated by code obscuration, let alone at app store scale. What are you suggesting Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and other store operators should be doing?

ssprang 13y ago

I've heard that some people are already re-signing and successfully submitting other developer's binaries. So, I suspect there will be some submitted clones eventually. It's possible Apple would reject them for being "too similar" (if they're paying attention). On the other hand, it would be cool if someone used these as a starting point and built something unique.

niels_olson 13y ago
Your latest version on the app store is only a few weeks old. You're still giving this love, right? Because this is possibly my favorite app of all time. If it goes away, I'm going to be very sad.
conradev 13y ago
Clones always seem to get through. The open source Hacker News client news:yc[1] has had a lot of problems with this in the past. In chronological order: https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291380036269899776 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291380036269899776 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291385819799896064 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/291385819799896064 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/303371858340884480 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/303371858340884480 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/308312460551651328 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/308312460551651328 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/315522279519961089 https://twitter.com/newsyc_/status/315522279519961089 [1] http://newsyc.me http://newsyc.me