feat: apple dma

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-* 2024  [4/4]                                                         :@blog:
+* 2024  [5/5]                                                         :@blog:
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+** DONE Software devolution in the hands of Apple
+CLOSED: [2024-01-26 Fri 19:51]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: apple-dma
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: abstract Apple tries dodging creating user freedom once again
+:END:
+Let's go back some 60 years into the past.
+Image buying a /mainframe/ computer for a low price of 200k USD.
+You can not install any arbitrary software there, as the architecture is closed.
+PC with its openness will come in some 30 years.
+For now, you have bought machine, but you are also renting it.
+Any changes require a dedicated team to come to your site.
+You are also forced to pay constant fee every month for the privilege to use the machine.
+
+This was the standard way to /compute/ in the 60s.
+But we have evolved.
+Nowadays, you buy a computer and nothing keeps you from doing anything with it.
+
+Unless you bought it from Apple.
+Yesterday the Big A dropped a news article[fn:apple] about how they will comply with Digital Markets Act[fn:dma].
+
+In short: they Cook-ed it.
+They fulfilled the letter of the law, completely bypassing any reasoning behind the act.
+One may say: Apple made the Cookie popup of the DMA.
+
+Yes, external store will be possible and one may install[fn:sideload] programs bypassing Apple App Store.
+It may even be possible to bypass Apple requirements for programs this way.
+Hooray?
+
+First of all: no /truly/ independent store will emerge.
+Apple still needs to accept store before it is allowed to install anything.
+And this comes with two requirements:
+- 0.5Eur fee for each first install from so-called "Core Technology Fee" [fn:fee].
+- 1 million EUR credit[fn:fee] [sic].
+  Yup, to secure the above you need a letter of credit from a bank.
+  This ensures that no independent store, akin to F-Droid will emerge.
+
+But that's not all!
+Apple requires that each version of you program distributed from different stores needs to be the same.
+So, if you even think of having it /also/ on Apple App Store, you are forbidden from giving more freedom to a user in version sold /outside/.
+
+And with those two Catch-22 requirements Apple stopped any real user freedom on their platform.
+You may create an independent, non-for-profit store if you have enough profits to do that.
+
+This goes against everything I believe in when it comes to /software/.
+I want open computers empowering users, not closed ones guarding them.
+
+And the scariest part?
+Some folks are defending this policy.
+Sometimes I feel like a relict of the past.
+
+And I wonder how will they the botch opening iMessage.
+I used to be an Apple fanboy.
+I even owned an Airport Extreme.
+But, as a father and person living from software development, I am at this point where I don't want to have anything to do with this company.
+
+I own an iPhone 13 Mini and I hate UI.
+I am forced to work on an MacBook and I hate how little one can customize there.
+I also own an AppleTV and the availability of programs there is a joke.
+
+I planned to /never/ buy an Apple device ever again.
+
+But with this I am no longer just an ex-fanboy.
+I am now actively *against* what they do and what they stand for.
+This is no longer the company I fell in love with[fn:love].
+For some time we've been discovering that a single provider shouldn't control the entire chain.
+Apple became the /worst/ enemy when it comes to software freedom simply because /they can/.
+Little by little, they prove Stallman's take[fn:stallman] is stop on.
+
+Wake me up when Linux is ready for everyday phone use, because Google is a poor alternative.
+
+[fn:dma] [[https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en][The Digital Markets Act on EC site]]
+[fn:apple] [[https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/01/apple-announces-changes-to-ios-safari-and-the-app-store-in-the-european-union/][Apple announces changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union]]
+[fn:sideload] let's not call it "sideloading".
+[fn:fee] [[https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/apple-says-third-party-app-marketplace-creators-must-have-e1000000-letter-of-credit/][Apple says third-party app marketplace creators must have €1,000,000 ‘letter of credit’]]
+[fn:love] yup, having any positive feelings towards a company is not a good idea.
+Proven by case in point.
+[fn:stallman] [[https://stallman.org/apple.html][Reasons not to use Apple]]
 ** DONE Technical book review: Hacking APIs
 CLOSED: [2024-01-19 Fri 20:01]
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