I use Linux daily too, but it's really not all that great for Office docs, video editing, photo editing, audio multitracking, CAD work, etc.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
OS X Mountain Lion Limits Apps to Mac App Store, Signed Apps by Default
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I use Linux daily too, but it's really not all that great for Office docs, video editing, photo editing, audio multitracking, CAD work, etc.
How many people would be furious and not use the mac if Apple suddenly implemented iOS type device lockdown?
No, Apple can't suddenly switch over to that degree of restrictions on OSX.
What they can do is gradually introduce it to users. Provide a half-way implementation called Gatekeeper, see how customers respond. Let mac users slowly get accustomed to it. If user acceptance is high, then in a future release remove gatekeepr altogether and lock down OSX just like iOS.
They are testing the waters with Gatekeeper, but its easy to distill their true long term intentions.
I hope I'm wrong. If I am not wrong, then mountain lion will be the last version of OSX I ever use.
No, Apple can't suddenly switch over to that degree of restrictions on OSX.
What they can do is gradually introduce it to users. Provide a half-way implementation called Gatekeeper, see how customers respond. Let mac users slowly get accustomed to it. If user acceptance is high, then in a future release remove gatekeepr altogether and lock down OSX just like iOS.
They are testing the waters with Gatekeeper, but its easy to distill their true long term intentions.
I hope I'm wrong. If I am not wrong, then mountain lion will be the last version of OSX I ever use.
My 63yo father in-law uses it everyday and is quite content..
I'm not a fan of Unity it does have it's appeal.
Linux mint with a KDE desktop, lose Unity and keep that Ubuntu software repository and support some pretty cool guys.
You are so off base and wrong that it's almost laughable, but I guess everyone interprets thing in their own way.
The reality, at least by my interpretation, is this...
- The default setting allows users to download apps from the Mac App Store and from other sources provided they have signed certificates.
- Apple is offering developers free certificates to sign their apps.
So just by looking at the entire situation, one sees that your statement is wrong. If it was the way you say it is they wouldn't be offering the free certificates. The reality is an app like Spotify will be able to get itself Mountain Lion ready be applying for a certificate and then it will continue to be distributed on Spotify's website. The same goes for any application like say VLC or Photo Mechanic, and so on.
To me this is only about the scare of malware which would be devastating to Apple's image if it became a serious problem.
You overlooked or ignored the basic premise: Where is this user going to find these things? With Windows and OS X, the user already knows where to find them.
If by some miracle uncle Bob is successful at installing say Ubuntu or Mint what he/she is going to do? He/she will find that Add/Remove prorams app and use it. And how is it different from Mac App Store on OS X except that software is mostly crap. He/she has no clue how to add 3rd party sources and so on. Not to mention the fact that OS X has a better UI, a better user experience ... which is why we go back to square one why Linux is anything but an option for general public.
You are missing the point I am making...
By making the default so that 99% of users will only run MAS apps, most developers will flock to only providing their apps in that channel, signed certificates or not.
That alone will slowly kill app distribution from outside the MAS. Get it?
Not you next door uncle Alfred or housewife Betty.
I guess only 1%.
99% of users would have no problems with this. I'm guessing that a good 50% of users (Mac or Windows) use their computers for web surfing and email, and don't download anything.
The local library also doubles as municipal IT.
They discs have Ubuntu and Xubuntu on hand.Unless Apple allows not only self-contained (like Parallels and other more complex apps) apps in MAS on Mountain Lion you are grasping at straws.
As things stand now there are many, many apps that can't be allowed to the MAS if you read the rules.
----------
The local library also doubles as municipal IT.
I thought it was about time for the "omg i get everything from library".
The default is signed applications. The Mac App Store is secondary, and shouldn't even be mention as it confuses things. In Mountain Lion apps need to have certificates. There are two ways to get certificates. For free by applying for a certificate or by selling through the Mac App Store.
I fail to see what there is that prevents any application I use today that's not in the app store from applying for a certificate. To me this is strictly a security feature. If they were forcing you into the app store it be different. However you can have your app signed and distribute it anyway you like.
To find Ubuntu, type "Ubuntu" into your search engine of choice and follow the top link. To find software repositories in Ubuntu, go to the Ubuntu Software Centre which is as easy to find and as fully integrated into the OS as the Mac App Store is in Lion/Mountain Lion. If you want to prevent yourself from installing potentially insecure software, the Ubuntu software options pane contains the same set of options as Mountain Lion offers in Gatekeeper.
Yup. Same here. It's always fun seeing what new stuff the Linux scene comes up with practically every other day.
The only reason why I haven't switched to Linux myself is because of that last caveat I mentioned up above. I can't live without my nice selection of software. If Modo, Zbrush, and the Adobe suite were to get native ports, I'd jump over in a heartbeat. But until that happens, the only thing I can use Linux for is web related stuff, and occasionally goofing around with WINE to see if I can get old Windows games to work.
If this is true, I wonder why anyone would bother sticking with particular OS in particular. For web surfing and email, Windows, OSX, and Linux are all functionally the same.
It'll do office doc's just fine..
Gimp will do all the editing I need..
Miro will convert all the video files I need.
I don't edit movies..
and the rest I don't do
Well said!
I wasn’t expecting any proof that Apple wasn’t planning to close down the Mac as some (albeit far off) time. After all, doing so, helps more users than it hurts!
But I didn’t want that. And now I have proof I’ll get my way
Apple has added a feature with the best of both worlds! It even allows NON-App Store apps by default. Who could complain? This is the perfect middle path.This will help SO many people, and won’t stop anyone from taking risks if they wish. Sometimes, you have to!
To be honest, I don't like the potential this has for power users who aren't Apple developers. I am certainly not going to have a Mac as my next main computer (after switching from Windows back in 2001) and instead I'll have a dual-booting MacBook running Windows and OS X only for the sake of iOS development as, to be honest, that'll be all that OS X will be good for.
The fact that the technology has been implemented, despite there being an "off switch" (that is not on by default) to allow you to install non-App Store apps is a detrimental to me and makes the Mac far less useful as far as I'm concerned. There is no promise that Apple won't at some point turn on the off-switch. In fact, it is advantageous for them to do so. Think about it? Why allow people to install random apps from anywhere, signed or not, when you can force them to buy from you and give you a 30% cut of every app sold? The "off-switch" smells only of a transition feature to be turned off once every major app is already available on the App Store.
Not cool, Apple, not cool.
The fact that the technology has been implemented, despite there being an "off switch" (that is not on by default) to allow you to install non-App Store apps is a detrimental to me and makes the Mac far less useful as far as I'm concerned. There is no promise that Apple won't at some point turn on the off-switch. In fact, it is advantageous for them to do so. Think about it? Why allow people to install random apps from anywhere, signed or not, when you can force them to buy from you and give you a 30% cut of every app sold? The "off-switch" smells only of a transition feature to be turned off once every major app is already available on the App Store.
Not cool, Apple, not cool.
If developers are allowed to sign apps distributed outside of the app store, does that mean they can allow people to purchase from other stores but update via the Mac app store?
Steam and major game titles keep me on Windows. I have Ubuntu in a virtual machine. People were surprised and thought I had installed it directly on the hardware. I was surprised how seamless it was in VirtualBox.
Otherwise I try to use as many inter-operable services and software as possible. I am ready to jump any sinking ship and at least maintain core usage.
No one has complained about my Ubuntu installations. They are too happy to have a working computer again. I just stumbled upon this gem.
http://www.darktable.org/
One thing I thought of is if Grandma or your girlfriend - who loves her iPhone goes out and buys a MacBook Air and Office and tries to install it won't work. They aren't going to know about GateKeeper and I doubt we see Office in the App Store in the next year or so.
Wouldn't that cause frustration and dis-statisfaction to rise? Also more genius bar appointments with frustrated users who can't install software purchased at Best Buy
Wouldn't that cause frustration and dis-statisfaction to rise? Also more genius bar appointments with frustrated users who can't install software purchased at Best Buy
You're confusing "on-off" with "choice1-choice2-choice3". It's not an either/or situation. And the default does allow you to install non-AppStore apps; they just need to be signed.