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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • I think that’s the rub, in my theoretical scenario, Apple is not blocking the distribution or sale of iOS applications through third-party means, they’d enforce their existing restrictions on and power over building iOS applications in the first place. Developers would absolutely still be able to distribute unsigned applications - end user iOS devices would just be unable to install them.

    It sounds ridiculous to me, and as I wrote earlier, it would be a clear violation of the spirit of the DMA, but I don’t see any reason why this scenario would not be technically possible for Apple to pull off.


  • I’m not too sure that these actions violate the letter of the law here, even though I agree that they’re 100% in violation of the spirit of the law.

    It’s been some years since I’ve put the mobile development world behind me, in no small part because of Apple’s shenanigans, but the way I understand how this might work - Apple may be required to allow “iOS software” to be installed from third party stores, but software that runs on iOS must either be signed using a certificate that only allows installation in a developer or enterprise context (which require explicit and obvious user consent to that specific use case, and come with other restrictions such as the installation only lasting for a limited period of time), or through an “appstore” certificate that allows installation on any device, but the actual application package will need to go through Apple’s pipeline (where I believe it gets re-signed before final distribution on the App Store). All certificates, not just the appstore ones, are centrally managed by Apple and they do have the power to revoke, or refuse to renew, any of those certificates at-will.

    If my understanding is correct (I’d appreciate if any up-to-date iOS devs could fact-check me), then Apple could introduce or maintain any restrictions they please on handling this final signing step, even if at the end of the day the resulting software is being handed back to developers to self-distribute, they can just refuse to sign the package at all, preventing installation on most consumer iOS devices, and to refuse to re-issue certificates to specific Apple developer accounts they deem in violation of their expected behavior. I haven’t read the implementation of the DMA in detail, nor am I a lawyer, so I’m not sure if there are provisions in place that would block either of these actions from Apple, but I do expect that there will be a long game of cat and mouse here as Apple and the EU continue to try and one-up the other’s actions.





  • I haven’t adopted this kind of setup, mainly because Proton just does such a good job I have almost zero need for Windows, but my plan for eventually doing something like this was to also maintain a passthrough Linux VM for any GPU-intensive work on that side.

    When I realized that the practical end-state of my system would mean I’d just be running things from within the Linux VM 98% of the time (games that can run on Linux) I kind of dropped the idea.


  • I have played the original, and will be playing the remaster, though not on Switch, I already own the Japanese version on Steam which will be patched with the localization upon release in the West.

    It’s quite a fun, fast-paced game, as Falcom action RPGs tend to be. Being a PSP title originally, I think the game format works well for shorter, pick-up-and-play sessions, making it ideal on devices like the Switch and Steam Deck. No context or experience with the wider Trails series necessary, all connections to the mainline series are just simple references and the game has a standalone story (unless you’re deep in the rabbit hole of lore crack theories).



  • Sure, modding the device will always have a niche interest, and people doing it just because they can, but if the price point of such a device is comparable to a Switch (easily hackable) or even a Steam Deck (outright open for you to do whatever with no barriers in place), would this device have any practical benefit for that kind of stuff over the alternatives?

    I think it will continue to have some niche benefit, especially if modding the device still retains its presumably “first party, easy” path to streaming games from a local PlayStation, and for people who would want to keep the presumably better-quality and 1080p display over what’s found in the Switch and Steam Deck, but I think someone looking to get something to primarily use with Steam Link or other such services have better (incl. first-party) options for that use case.



  • We still don’t know the price of the device. I think this device has to really target a low, potentially subsidized, price point in order to be worth it over existing handheld devices capable of streaming (or even running games locally), and if that’s the case, it may suffer from the Amazon Fire problem of being incredibly locked down and not seeing as large a development community as would be necessary to achieve a “no restrictions” Android setup. If Sony is subsidizing the device, they would really prefer it if consumers stay within their media ecosystem rather than having the ability to go out and use and/or pay for services that don’t allow Sony to recuperate their losses.

    It is also possible that the device seen here is just running Android for testing purposes, and the final device will ship with something more locked-down. This seems unlikely due to being far more effort than just using common tablet hardware and shipping Android, but Sony may prefer to do that to achieve more control over the device.



  • Unless LOS or a different custom ROM can re-enable the “old” work profile behavior, having access to the latest version of Android might be a detriment compared to an older version that still at least receives security updates (as I assume the Pixel mentioned here does).

    I run LineageOS myself, and while I don’t think this change is enough of a dealbreaker to prevent me from ever updating past LOS20 if this change isn’t addressed somehow in either AOSP or LOS, it will make me less enthusiastic about immediately jumping to LOS21 the moment it’s made available to my device.



  • I’m also using a OnePlus 5T (with LineageOS from day 1), and plan to replace it with a Fairphone should it die and there’s a good model available with US bands. I’m fine with importing the newest Fairphone should it release by that time, but the Fairphone 4 is also available directly in the US as well.

    I think what’s impressive here is the first party, OEM support for feature updates on Android lasting as long as it has for this phone. That’s really not something you tend to see even on Google’s flagships (though security updates are still regular and better than what the Fairphone sees officially).

    IMO, smartphones have basically plateaued in the past at least five years - a flagship model from 2015 should be sufficient for basic usage today, assuming the battery and modem hardware was somehow kept up to date and software updates were provided as well, and flagship models from like 2018 onwards were a better deal than today’s flagships, providing comparable real-world functionality at a lower price even if the spec sheet pales by comparison. I don’t think most other OEMs have the incentives to provide that kind of long-term support on older but still usable hardware, but Fairphone absolutely is.





  • This is, IMO, the biggest yet least obvious advantage of immutable systems. A traditional Linux environment is “just as safe” as the immutable setups, if only the user/administrator is perfect, never makes a mistake, and always makes the right decisions for now and the future.

    Given reality tends to differ from the above, having a system that, at a bare minimum, provides you the “oh shit go back” button to system-level changes, and at best provides a clear, reproducible, trail of actions, is a huge advantage for long-term stability for all users, experienced or not. I’ve been through the school of hard knocks far too many times maintaining everything from server setups to gaming desktops the traditional way, and have committed to “early adopting” immutable distros for pretty much everything except the gaming setup (given the whole suite of proprietary and out-of-date/out-of-touch applications that are basically necessary in that space and not-fully-compatible with the sandboxes and abstraction layers necessary).