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Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels

blog.kronis.dev

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Re: Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels

#5

Post by Wowfunhappy »

Any user who does not like Gatekeeper can turn it off on their machine in ten seconds by running this in a Terminal:

    sudo spctl —-master-disable
People will say, no, that’s too big a hammer, it’s not safe… but then, like, what do you actually want? Either you keep Gatekeeper because you like the friction it introduces, or you don’t like that friction and you should go turn it off. Pick one, you obviously can’t have both!

Of course, you as the developer can’t make this choice for your users… but isn’t that as it should be? The user decides what code is allowed to run on their machines. And the default setting is restrictive because anyone who knows what they’re doing can easily change it.

P.S. Meanwhile, on iOS there’s no way to install unsigned software at all, and on Android (starting soon) the process takes 24 hours instead of ten seconds. That is actually ridiculous because it’s taking away user choice.

P.P.S. To be clear, modern macOS has plenty of other restrictions which can’t really be turned off and which I find super annoying. Gatekeeper just isn’t one of them.

Edit: I’ve just learned that as of Sequoia, you have to also tick a box in Settings after running the Terminal command. So maybe it takes 30 seconds instead of ten seconds. That’s mildly more annoying, but still doesn’t really seem like a big deal to me.

Re: Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels

#6

Post by gumby271 »

dcrazy wrote: post #3

Notarize the application and staple the receipt to your app bundle. It won’t trigger the Gatekeeper warning.

Doesn't that still require going though all the hoops that they were struggling with, or is this a different verification flow with Apple?

Re: Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels

#7

Post by bloppe »

a2tech wrote: post #2

Try to open the file, say ok to the ‘can’t check for malware’ prompt, go to settings, security, approve running the software. Annoying, but if you’re delivering your app to semi-technical users, not really a problem.

It's only a problem if you want people to use your software

Re: Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels

#8

Post by wetpaws »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #5

Any user who does not like Gatekeeper can turn it off on their machine in ten seconds by running this in a Terminal: sudo spctl —-master-disable People will say, no, that’s too big a hammer, it’s not safe… but then, like, what do you actually want? Either you keep Gatekeeper because you like the friction it introduces, or you don’t like that friction and you should go turn it off. Pick one, you obviously can’t have b…

[dead]

Re: Distributing Mac software is increasing my cortisol levels

#10

Post by 0123456789ABCDE »

bloppe wrote: post #7
a2tech wrote: post #2

Try to open the file, say ok to the ‘can’t check for malware’ prompt, go to settings, security, approve running the software. Annoying, but if you’re delivering your app to semi-technical users, not really a problem.

It's only a problem if you want people to use your software

it's really cool when i can fall a sleep in peace knowing this keeps my folks from getting rooted
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