macOS unable to open any non-Apple application

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

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.

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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?

Over the generations, I have had three Macbooks, four Vaios, a ThinkPad, a HP, multiple ASUS and Huawei. Most of the devices I have killed by travel: dust infiltration, vibrated the BGA chips off the boards by motorbike vibrations..

My requirements have all been fulfilled with the Huawei MateBook X Pro.

You could say it's heavily inspired by the MacBook. Aluminum case. Chiclet keyboard with decent travel. 2000x3000 display (2:3 ratio!). Awesome trackpad. Good battery life. Portable. Solid. 2x USB-C and 1x USB-A. Sustained multiple drops.

For context, I am able to pull solid 12-hour days on the device, without a mouse, without fatigue or frustration.

Cheaper than a MacBook. Might be worth a look.

But then you have to buy a Huawei ...

Not the best idea security and privacy wise.

I was skeptical initially. The laptop has been dissected and scrutinized by multiple people with nothing suspect discovered. On the other hand - which brand is safe ? Thinkpad has installed rootkits multiple times. Until there's proof to the otherwise, I think it's worth withholding preconceived ideas.

In any case, everyone has their own level of comfort, and that's important.