Somehow I highly doubt what you suggest is possible. Pretty sure Google wouldn't allow it either.

Yep. And this just means that F-Droid has to have one person sign up and submit all of the apps for signature, as I said.

Nope this move is entire *because* of the Sept APK lockdown. Now they can allow third-party app stores while still taking fees from every Android app developer regardless of store, and maintain full and total control over users and developers. I'm surprised Apple didn't think of this.

There is unlikely to be any change in the malware levels because Google is set to know *everything* about the developers of literally all android apps. They are doing this by rolling out their new verification program which will require all apps regardless of how they are installed and from what app store, to be signed *by Google* after the developers pay their fees to Google. Whereas before google was unhappy to lose their 30% cut, now they've engineered a way to take a cut from *all* developers in all app stores. And they will be collecting detailed personal information about all developers including government IDs. I believe Google is couching this move as a way to clamp down on malware while abiding by the various legal judgements that censured them for their 30% cut and forced them to open up Android to third parties. In short they can have their cake and eat it too.

If https://keepandroidopen.org/ isn't convincing to this crowd, I don't know of anything that will. Google's set to hold more power over Android and would-be app developers than even Apple. It's evil genius level.

Google kind of relented and will allow you to disable this "feature" requiring a multi-step process that takes 24 hours. It could be reasonable, given Android's malware problem, but I can't help but wonder if there's not a better way, but it wouldn't serve Google's purpose to increase their control over Android users.

https://keepandroidopen.org/

I guess I wasn't clear enough as you do not seem to understand the issue. Google is requiring *all* apps, regardless of how you install them, or from what app store you install them, to be signed *by them*. This means that every app available on F-Droid must be signed (and developer dues paid) also or it won't be installable. This not something F-Droid is willing to do because the whole reason F-Droid exists is to give users access to software by open source and other developers who can't or won't pay the Google tax and fork over their information to Google.

If F-Droid were to participate in Google's scheme to extort developers, it becomes a huge liability for the open source developers themselves, should Google suddenly decide their app violates their policies and IP, and slaps them with a lawsuit (even if frivolous).

The whole thing is quite nefarious. Google used to take a 30% cut in their app store, but they were legally censored for it (the whole reason we're here talking about this). Now instead of just the 30% cut they can charge literally all android app developers a fee (one-time for now, but that could change quite easily), and hold control over all of them even when they don't even use the Google play store. It's evil genius really.

But as the other poster said, no one really cares, sadly.

Nonsense. There's no reason to expect that mandatory developer certificates will kill F-Droid, at all. F-Droid will need one guy to pay the $25 fee and identify himself. Unless they can use the open source developer exception that Google has talked about (but hasn't announced any details, AFAIK).

That's a bigger issue, because Google's announced policy is to require that apps respect intellectual property, which would include not distributing apps that blatantly violate terms of service. Most likely F-Droid will have to stop distributing NewPipe if they want to be in Google Play. If dropping NewPipe is enough to kill F-Droid, then I guess that'll do it.

Those in the north will complain because the portion of the winter they go to work in darkness will increase, and it will be darker. Those in the center will also complain louder because they'll start going to work/school in the dark.

Those in the south will be confused about why everyone else is complaining, but they'll lose.

It's really not. 20 years ago, yes, but they've grown up and wised up. I know lots of excellent engineers at Microsoft, and I know they do good work, and they report that their colleagues do, too.

And note that I'm no MS fanboy. I hated them with a purple passion in the late 80s and early 90s, and swore off Windows entirely in 2001. I did finally break down and buy a Windows laptop a couple of years ago because I bought a CNC milling machine and the good software is Windows only, but that's the only thing I use it for.

Nope. Google is still set to kill F-Droid later this year when they turn on mandatory developer certificates which will require developers to pay Google and hand over their personal information, regardless of what app store they want to distribute through. This will essentially kill F-Droid for casual users (their main target is almost certainly NewPipe). Yes you can still use F-Droid but you'll have to do a 24 hour delay before you can install F-Droid.

More precisely, "Everyone does".

Microsoft's code isn't especially shoddy, all large codebases that are getting AI review right now are experiencing the same thing.

That would be funny... but also foolish. Iran is thrilled to have Trump right where he is, doing all the dumb things he's doing.

Valid! (Including the gray and the beard, though my hair is still mostly black. Mostly.)

The point, though is that there are lots of grandmas with varying levels of computer knowledge, many of whom can and should be moved to a Linux system that is harder to screw up. Or, honestly even better, a good Chromebook.

On that topic, I did that for my father-in-law around 2010. I got tired of cleaning up the mess he made on his Windows laptop, so (with his permission) I upgraded him to Debian. It was hugely lower-maintenance for me.

The really funny thing about that particular case is that my father-in-law was a retired Full Professor of Computer Science! His problem wasn't that he didn't have the background or ability to manage a system himself, it was that he didn't want to. At his life-stage, the computer was a tool that he used, mostly as a web browser to buy parts for the farming and antique furniture refinishing that were his passions. Also, he had very thick fingers and constantly fat-fingered stuff, literally. What he really needed was a Chromebook with a full-sized laptop keyboard (a bigger-than-normal keyboard would have been even better), but Chromebooks didn't exist yet.

I'm a grandpa and I'm using a computer. My wife is a grandma and she's using a computer, too.

I meet them all the time. Most of them are in their 50s and have used computers their entire adult life.