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    macOS unable to open any non-Apple application

    (twitter.com)
    2603 points mattsolle | 14 comments | 12 Nov 20 21:00 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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    elmo2you ◴[12 Nov 20 22:26 UTC] No.25076037[source]▶
    Sincerely and without any intention to troll or be sarcastic: I'm puzzled that people are willing buy a computer/OS where (apparently) software can/will fail to launch if some central company server goes down. Maybe I'm just getting this wrong, because I can honestly not quite wrap my head around this. This is such a big no-go, from a systems design point of view.

    Even beyond unintentional glitches at Apple, just imagine what this could mean when traffic to this infra is disrupted intentionally (e.g. to any "unfavorable" country). That sounds like a really serious cyber attack vector to me. Equally dangerous if infra inside the USA gets compromised, if that is going to make Apple computers effectively inoperable. Not sure how Apple will shield itself from legal liability in such an event, if things are intentionally designed this way. I seriously doubt that a cleverly crafted TOS/EULA will do it, for the damage might easily go way beyond to just users in this case.

    Again, maybe (and in fact: hopefully) I'm just getting this all wrong. If not, I might know a country or two where this could even warrant a full ban on the sale of Apple computers, if there is no local/national instance of this (apparently crucial) infrastructure operating in that country itself, merely on the argument of national security (and in this case a very valid one, for a change).

    All in all, this appears to be a design fuck-up of monumental proportions. One that might very well deserve to have serious legal ramifications for Apple.

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    horsawlarway ◴[12 Nov 20 22:40 UTC] No.25076194[source]▶
    People chose to use Apple because it seems like a benevolent dictatorship.

    And frankly, a benevolent dictatorship is basically the best government you can have, as long as you're part of the "in-group" who doesn't push boundaries, doesn't cause trouble, and supports the supreme ruler, Kim jon... cough* Apple.

    ---

    The problem is that no matter how good the dictatorship might be today, it will eventually bite you. You will either develop a need that isn't addressed, or they will change the rules so you are no longer able to satisfy an existing need.

    We're seeing this now with Google - Their motto was literally "don't be evil" for a long time. And during that golden period their users loved them. But as Google has shifted from "don't be evil" to "Make lots of money" people are starting to shift away.

    Apple is still in the golden phase, but I'm not really convinced they're going to be there much longer.

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    1. phs318u ◴[12 Nov 20 23:42 UTC] No.25076878[source]▶
    Speaking as an ex-Google user and an ex-Apple customer (still tied to Apple Music and iCloud for family phones), I'd compare Google to Russia - not particularly benevolent, a bit chaotic/random, citizens tend to shrug and accept their lot. Apple is more like Singapore, slick, seemingly benevolent, citizens honestly question why the rest of the world isn't run the same way.

    EDIT: I'd add another way in which Google is like Russia and Apple like Singapore. Everyone kinda knows that Russia's leaders are a bit/a lot evil. There's still a debate about whether Singapore's leaders are evil.

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    2. sjwright ◴[12 Nov 20 23:55 UTC] No.25076993[source]▶
    That's a perfect analogy.
    3. Symbiote ◴[13 Nov 20 00:06 UTC] No.25077074[source]▶
    I like that.

    I think it makes Linux some sort of United States: users like the principles, but almost all use one of the 50 major implementations, which tend to have small differences. When defending any perceived shortcoming, they will point to a different implementation without the particular flaw, or argue that the feature is not only unnecessary but undesirable.

    Many outsiders are uncomfortable with the unwavering commitment these users have for the principles. Others often talk about moving to the USA, or how they plan to, but few make the effort to do so.

    [The last paragraph convinced me the analogy was better with the USA than the EU.]

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    4. type0 ◴[13 Nov 20 00:14 UTC] No.25077132[source]▶
    > Apple is more like Singapore, slick, seemingly benevolent, citizens honestly question why the rest of the world isn't run the same way.

    Apple is more like a Vatican and Google is like Saudi Arabia. Both corrupt in different ways.

    5. sergeykish ◴[13 Nov 20 00:40 UTC] No.25077356[source]▶
    More like their state fixed particular issue, some move a lot between states, some settled on their first place. Some live all life in a hotel, some build their own houses.

    It looks scary for outsiders — how to choose state? Building own house requires so much energy and time, why would anyone do this? Just rent an apartment, maybe change wallpapers and door, bring appliances. Yes, sometimes owner moves switches, adds cameras, puts advertisement, forbids all but own groceries where he takes 30% cut, but apart from that life is good.

    6. mbgerring ◴[13 Nov 20 00:42 UTC] No.25077381[source]▶
    Linux is also like the United States in that you are in some sense free, but everything just barely works, sometimes things don't work at all, and there is no hope of many well-documented problems ever being fixed. If you have a problem, you are "free" to fix it yourself, on your own, without support.
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    7. warkdarrior ◴[13 Nov 20 01:04 UTC] No.25077569[source]▶
    Which Linux distribution has the most guns? Asking for a friend, of course. :P
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    8. owl57 ◴[13 Nov 20 01:17 UTC] No.25077665{3}[source]▶
    Lots of footguns in all of them. Arch probably has the most new and shiny ones, and Gentoo has accumulated a lot of work on footgun tuning.
    replies(1): >>25078894 #
    9. elbybasolis ◴[13 Nov 20 01:20 UTC] No.25077697{3}[source]▶
    Kali linux certainly has the pointiest sticks.
    10. PAGAN_WIZARD ◴[13 Nov 20 01:21 UTC] No.25077701{3}[source]▶
    Maybe suicide linux? https://qntm.org/suicide
    11. craftinator ◴[13 Nov 20 02:05 UTC] No.25078005{3}[source]▶
    Have you used Linux in the last few years? Seems like all standard use cases work seamlessly, such as web browsing, streaming, videos, text editing, creating artwork, presentations, installing any random Linux binary, programming, ...etc ; only problems I've run into are by doing something stupid or doing something really really off the wall.

    And even when I've created a problem or chosen to do something way outside of standard usage, there has been a WEALTH of documentation, stack overflow discussions, and live Linux community support. I've never run into a problem that hasn't already been chewed over by the Linux community, solved, and the solution been posted in a clear, educational, and technically descriptive manner.

    I've NEVER has that kind of support from Apple or Microsoft. From them, it's always some half baked, high level / middle management overview type of solution, usually outdated, that discusses why it's a problem, why fixing it is dependent on the system (their system, that I've paid for), and how I should contact my system administrator, who's going to go read through the same page, then spend the afternoon sipping Pepto and dreaming of having a more sane job. Using their OS's is like wading through mud.

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    12. gentleman11 ◴[13 Nov 20 03:59 UTC] No.25078691{3}[source]▶
    I find Linux issues easier to debug than windows or Mac issues, but that’s as a technical user. It would be frustrating as a newbie. I hear elementary is good for new users
    13. peckrob ◴[13 Nov 20 04:30 UTC] No.25078894{4}[source]▶
    Running Gentoo you learn a lot about how Linux works at a deep level. I'm glad I have that knowledge I gained running Gentoo and it's saved my bacon a few times over the years.

    But after about the third time that upgrading my system made it unbootable because I had missed some crucial step buried in the changelog or release notes, I also developed a deep appreciation of all the things modern distros handle for you. I rarely fear a dist-upgrade the way I did an emerge world.

    14. mbgerring ◴[13 Nov 20 19:24 UTC] No.25086315{4}[source]▶
    I have — Linux was my daily driver for three years ending in 2018, and I tried to use it for everything from print design to video editing to software development. I was even using it on two different generations of the Dell XPS machines that officially support Linux. I still eventually gave up and went back to macOS. I want my tools to work, not to work on my tools.