[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-windows
Subject:    Re: Basic craft Mac questions
From:       Thomas Friedrichsmeier <thomas.friedrichsmeier () ruhr-uni-bochum ! de>
Date:       2020-01-05 9:37:20
Message-ID: 20200105103720.1ea267b7 () edge
[Download RAW message or body]


On Sun, 5 Jan 2020 07:42:07 +1300
Ben Cooksley <bcooksley@kde.org> wrote:
> To my knowledge we haven't yet attempted to setup an account with
> Apple at this time.
> 
> I guess the first question would be whether we'd be looking to (and
> are we even able to - didn't they have GPL issues at some point?)
> upload applications to the Mac store?

From what I understand, the basic problem is that the Mac store
requires users to agree to their ToS, and those say - among other things
- that you may not re-distribute whatever you get from the store.

Now, arguably, that restriction is not terribly relevant as long as you
can _also_ get the same software elsewhere, but technically it _is_ an
additional restriction imposed on the user, and thus forbidden under
the GPL. Thus, anybody with the right to any GPL'ed piece of code in
what we upload would be rightfully entitled to ask Apple to stop
distributing under those terms.

Technically, and morally, the fault sits square on Apple, as far as I
can see. Practically the outcome would be that Apple simply pulls the
app from the store - and quite possibly everything else from the same
developer (us) as well.

In other words, that path does seem problematic, indeed. I don't really
see, why it would be the _first_ question to answer, though. Getting a
certificate and signing the distributed images actually looks like a
good idea to me, in its own right. A second, separate step might be to
submit images to Apple for "notarization" (which, as far as I can see,
is essentially Apple running a malware scanner over the image). To my
understanding, neither of these would preclude us from uploading to the
Mac store, should that become possible and necessary in the future(*).

Regards
Thomas

(*): My guess is that it will eventually become necessary, but not
possible in a future version of MacOS. But that's a story for another
day.

[Attachment #3 (application/pgp-signature)]

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]