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+title = "Software devolution in the hands of Apple"
+author = ["Michał Sapka"]
+date = 2024-01-26T19:51:00+01:00
+categories = ["blog"]
+draft = false
+weight = 2001
+abstract = "Apple tries dodging creating user freedom once again"
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+
+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:1] about how they will comply with Digital Markets Act[^fn:2].
+
+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:3] 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:4].
+-   1 million EUR credit[^fn:4] [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:5].
+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:6] is stop on.
+
+Wake me up when Linux is ready for everyday phone use, because Google is a poor alternative.
+
+[^fn:1]: [Apple announces changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/01/apple-announces-changes-to-ios-safari-and-the-app-store-in-the-european-union/)
+[^fn:2]: [The Digital Markets Act on EC site](https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en)
+[^fn:3]: let's not call it "sideloading".
+[^fn:4]: [Apple says third-party app marketplace creators must have €1,000,000 ‘letter of credit’](https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/25/apple-says-third-party-app-marketplace-creators-must-have-e1000000-letter-of-credit/)
+[^fn:5]: yup, having any positive feelings towards a company is not a good idea.
+    Proven by case in point.
+[^fn:6]: [Reasons not to use Apple](https://stallman.org/apple.html)
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