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    macOS unable to open any non-Apple application

    (twitter.com)
    2603 points mattsolle | 13 comments | 12 Nov 20 21:00 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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    submeta ◴[12 Nov 20 21:15 UTC] No.25075156[source]▶
    Unbelievable. When I read the tweet (tried to post here as well), I suddenly realized why my Mac was unresponsive an hour ago.

    Here is another tweet that describes the problem in more detail:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/llanga/status/1326989724704268289

    > I am currently unable to work because macOS sends hashes of every opened executable to some server of theirs and when `trustd` and `syspolicyd` are unable to do so, the entire operating system grinds to a halt.

    EDIT:

    As others pointed out, I put this to my `/etc/hosts` file and refreshed it like so:

        sudo emacs /etc/hosts # add `0.0.0.0 ocsp.apple.com` 
    sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder # refresh hosts
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    areoform ◴[13 Nov 20 01:51 UTC] No.25077923[source]▶
    So yesterday I wrote about the blurring lines of ownership, and people came back with some fairly disparate responses. It's fair to say that I was mostly dismissed. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25058952

    And this is why I won't be moving to Apple silicon. Apple already has the ability to restrict whats apps I can run (they can simply toggle a switch for all users to "no unsigned binaries"), and congrats! Apple is the sole decider of what we get to use on our computers.

    Of course Apple's Craig Federighi assures us that the people making such assertions are "tools" (https://youtu.be/Hg9F1Qjv3iU?t=3177 , timestamp 53:33) and they have no intention whatsoever of taking away our ability to do general compute on the machines we buy and own.

    Except...

    Apple can already decide what binaries you can execute. Should they choose to.

    Apple is now restricting what other OSes you can boot into. As they've chosen to.

    Apple can now make their machine reject a new, third-party repair part like a bad transplant. Should they choose to.

    It's clear where they're going. And I'm jumping ship. It's painful to do so, given how invested I am in the ecosystem, but we're already beyond the threshold that many of us would have left earlier in the decade.

    ---

    edit - It's also really hard as a designer + developer + would-be researcher in the making to find a good computer. Most non-Apple laptops don't have very good color accuracy. They also don't have good trackpads, and their keyboard + trackpad alignment is wonky (it's off-center in a lot of cases! How weird is that???)

    I'm trying to find a laptop with good build quality, long battery life, a good display that I can design on, a good trackpad so that I don't have to carry around a mouse, good speakers would be a plus, and light enough that I don't feel like I'm lifting weights while working on my laptop. And this package should ideally come with 512GB of SSD storage and, at least, 16GB to 32GB of RAM.

    Oh and it shouldn't be more expensive than a Mac as many of these laptops are!

    Any suggestions?

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    1. darthrupert ◴[13 Nov 20 05:28 UTC] No.25079216[source]▶
    I think you should stick to Apple, frankly. Every time Apple comes up with something new (or just a new software release), people come out of their sheds to warn about all the bad things that will happen.

    And then almost none of those bad things happen. I've witnessed this dozens of times now, so a safe interpretation would be to assume that this time none of those things happen.

    replies(2): >>25079436 #>>25080005 #
    2. ant6n ◴[13 Nov 20 06:09 UTC] No.25079436[source]▶
    Not running 32bit code anymore die definitely happen
    replies(2): >>25079971 #>>25080015 #
    3. coldtea ◴[13 Nov 20 07:37 UTC] No.25079971[source]▶
    And it couldn't have happened sooner.

    Do you want to be burdened with layers of backwards compatibility and end up like POSIX or Autoconf with provisions for things that once run on some long forgotten UNIX OS version?

    replies(1): >>25080262 #
    4. toyg ◴[13 Nov 20 07:43 UTC] No.25080005[source]▶
    Except bad things did happen. Like their capricious application of Appstore “guidelines”; the increasing difficulty of running software on Mac where the developer won’t pay Apple a tithe; the drop in Linux support for the platform, as they locked it down more and more at hardware level; the imposition of their authentication and payment portals (and hence 30% taxes all around) on web apps... etc etc etc.

    We have been effectively boiled like obedient frogs.

    I love macOS but my next laptop won’t be a mac and my next phone won’t be an iPhone. Divesting from the ecosystem will be painful but we’re well past any grace period at this point.

    replies(2): >>25080766 #>>25085418 #
    5. pfranz ◴[13 Nov 20 07:45 UTC] No.25080015[source]▶
    It was rumored for like a decade. The last 32-bit computers were sold in something like 2007-2008? High Sierra started throwing warnings when you launched 32-bit apps. In 2018, they announced Mojave would be the last version to support them. Mojave just got an update yesterday and will likely get updates for at least another year. So nobody has been forced out yet.

    I'm aware end users with discontinued software were forced into some no-win choices. But as an ecosystem, it's one example where this happened and was given a ~15 year possible window and an explicit 4 year window to transition.

    6. epse ◴[13 Nov 20 08:25 UTC] No.25080262{3}[source]▶
    32 bit support certainly isn't going to Bury you in backwards compatibility. It just runs
    replies(1): >>25081261 #
    7. sokoloff ◴[13 Nov 20 09:56 UTC] No.25080766[source]▶
    I have not experienced any difficulties in installing or running apps from outside the Mac app store (if that’s what you mean by paying Apple a tithe).
    replies(1): >>25081899 #
    8. coldtea ◴[13 Nov 20 11:39 UTC] No.25081261{4}[source]▶
    Just runs with 2 versions of the same library (32/64), and with older programs that can't take advantage of 64bit ABI / arch changes...
    9. toyg ◴[13 Nov 20 13:28 UTC] No.25081899{3}[source]▶
    First they restricted execution of unsigned binaries unless you run in a substantially-unprotected mode: https://github.molgen.mpg.de/pages/bs/macOSnotes/mac/mac_pro...

    Then they disabled execution of all unsigned binaries. To run on a default Mac, you either pay Apple or compile on the user's own machine which is obviously unsustainable. https://eclecticlight.co/2020/08/22/apple-silicon-macs-will-...

    They've also removed any 32bit support, in case you could make do with old programs that don't make Apple some money.

    I'm still on Mojave and will not upgrade. Personally, my last MBP was bought in 2016 and I have no intention of getting another one as long as they continue exploiting developers and the public in this way.

    replies(2): >>25085514 #>>25087262 #
    10. bsaul ◴[13 Nov 20 18:10 UTC] No.25085418[source]▶
    "I love macOS but my next laptop won’t be a mac and my next phone won’t be an iPhone. Divesting from the ecosystem will be painful but we’re well past any grace period at this point. "

    same here. I hope this will lead to a leap in quality in alternative mobile & desktop OSes, because at the moment the situation looks pretty bad.

    11. saagarjha ◴[13 Nov 20 18:17 UTC] No.25085514{4}[source]▶
    > To run on a default Mac, you either pay Apple or compile on the user's own machine

    This is not true. Apple silicon runs code with any signature, even an ad-hoc one.

    replies(1): >>25096263 #
    12. ◴[13 Nov 20 20:45 UTC] No.25087262{4}[source]▶
    13. rowanG077 ◴[14 Nov 20 22:28 UTC] No.25096263{5}[source]▶
    What exactly do you mean ad-hoc? Can my friend without an apple account compile an executable with GCC send it to me and I can run it on my new Apple Macbook?