The walls are slowly going up around the garden...
Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
71–80 of 373 posts
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gruber was telling that the Apple ID was going to be free. It isn't. It requires a Mac Developer account as far as I could understand it. When I was 15 I wrote a Taskbar dialer for Windows 9x and later NT (this was in the modem days. Of course I haven't updated it in ages and the only reason my old webpage is still there is because I found it by accident in an old backup, but here is a google search for it: https://w…
Back then I had no permission to use a computer ("they make you stupid" was my parents argument) and certainly no credit card to pay anybody to do development - and even then, as a minor I would probably never have gotten that certificate. The computer isn't free either. And you can always build and distribute without the ID or the certificate. This is just for distribution through the App Store or to users that have…
The computer isn't free either. And you can always build and distribute without the ID or the certificate. This is just for distribution through the App Store or to users that have it set to only allow signed apps.
The latter is the default. So for other people to use this application I wrote as a minor, my users would have to change the setting.
Well, if you are that easily discouraged, then maybe that career wasn't really for you, anyway.
This would not have stopped me, but imagine what kind of an ego-boost it is for a 15 years old sufferer of heavy bullying due to overall geekyness to see his home-grown application not just be used by other people but actually getting mentioned in paper publications.
Nowadays I couldn't even get /permission/ to try because these various developer programs require you to be an adult due to various organizational issues.
Honestly, without that ego boost when it happened, I don't know where I would stand today, if at all.
But this is my story. I have a feeling that I'm losing objectivity here due to heavy emotional involvement. I'll be quiet in this topic from now on and just turn that switch off for myself, hoping that there will be a switch to turn off in the future.
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Malware writers will just get free ids and sign their malware. Will all of these OSX devices be regularly polling Apple to get a list of revoked certs? I guess this would be useful to prevent malware being installed, but it's not going to be massively useful to remove already installed malware. Especially if that malware can interrupt the polling. I wonder how difficult it will be to get developer IDs. Might be a mar…
Malware writers will just get free ids and sign their malware. Will all of these OSX devices be regularly polling Apple to get a list of revoked certs? Yes, the first problem will be to create some malware from OS X first. You know, the biggest success so far had been that Mac Defender, that was: a) a trojan (you had to install it yourself) and b) only affected like 10 users
If malware on OSX is as small a problem as you're suggesting, why is Apple bothering with any of this? Is it to wrestle further control of the app eco-system on OSX? Or is it just security theatre? Or both? Something else?
The current app eco-system doesn't allow them to just switch off the ability for people to install arbitrary apps. They need to get themselves into a situation where the vast majority of apps are signed first. Then it will be a lot easier for them to require apps to be signed. For your own protection of course.
EDIT: After all, if developer IDs are so easy and free to get, and will make it easier for people to install your app. Why wouldn't you get it signed?
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gruber was telling that the Apple ID was going to be free. It isn't. It requires a Mac Developer account as far as I could understand it. When I was 15 I wrote a Taskbar dialer for Windows 9x and later NT (this was in the modem days. Of course I haven't updated it in ages and the only reason my old webpage is still there is because I found it by accident in an old backup, but here is a google search for it: https://w…
Hold on, XCode is free (without a developer login) you could install that and write the app. You can then publish it on websites exactly as you did and those who choose the appropriate security setting can run it. You have a smaller audience yes, but you can still do what you did. And while this doesn't stop Malware, it does raise the bar a little higher. Out of interest how would you feel about it if developer licen…
Out of interest how would you feel about it if developer licenses were free for students?
I would be much happier (to the effect of actually seeing more good than bad in this restriction) if getting that ID was a matter of filling out a form an passing a turing test - so, for example, if any apple ID could be used to get a signing certificate, that would be much better.
(edit: this is not about the money. It's about they way of payment (minors don't have credit cards) and the required paperwork that, among other things, require you to be an adult)
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#75Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#76I'm not sure if this matters or not, but the submitted title calls it "Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion", and 10.8 is indeed the version number I would expect; yet this number is nowhere to be found, neither on Apple's page nor in Gruber's announcement. Instead, it's just called "OS X Mountain Lion" everywhere. I wonder if they dropped the version number, or are downplaying it? But for what reason?
I saw a screenshot of the "About This Mac" screen that displayed 10.8 as the version number. I believe it was on the TechCrunch article.
This is the article your talking about:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/16/os-x-mountain-lion/
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#77According to the screenshots, the spotlight icon is no longer on the top right, getting shuffled over to the left by presumably a new icon to invoke notification center.
That's a really bad choice. The corners are the click targets fastest to reach (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fittss_law ), and demoting searching in favor of 'reading messages that have popped up before' doesn't strike me as quite well-balanced.
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#78I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to worry about my file system and apps just know what files it needs or can view.
iCloud seems to be moving things in that direction.
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hold on, XCode is free (without a developer login) you could install that and write the app. You can then publish it on websites exactly as you did and those who choose the appropriate security setting can run it. You have a smaller audience yes, but you can still do what you did. And while this doesn't stop Malware, it does raise the bar a little higher. Out of interest how would you feel about it if developer licen…
Out of interest how would you feel about it if developer licenses were free for students? I would be much happier (to the effect of actually seeing more good than bad in this restriction) if getting that ID was a matter of filling out a form an passing a turing test - so, for example, if any apple ID could be used to get a signing certificate, that would be much better. (edit: this is not about the money. It's about…
That's interesting. My feeling is that the problem her is with the Apple Developer network rather than the functionality - I think the functionality just highlights the problem.
Personally I'd like to see the price on Developer licenses dropped and made free for full time or part time students. I think it would make commercial and PR sense for Apple too - show that they are developer friendly and make the Mac attractive as the machine of choice for the next generation of programmers (who will then also be a shoe in on coding iOS apps).
Re: Apple announces Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
#80" OS X Mountain Lion arrives this summer. With all-new features inspired by iPad, the Mac just keeps getting better and better. " Am I the only person that doesn't want an ipad on the desktop?
No, no one wants that (I hope). Read the Gruber preview and you'll feel more at ease. OS X and iOS are not merging. He describes Mountain Lion as "a series of steps toward defining a set of shared concepts, styles, and principles between two fundamentally distinct OSes."