How is, "... the Linux desktop is a total mess when it comes to backward compatibility," a reasonable anything? What things aren't backward compatible on the Linux desktop?

If anything, forward compatibility might be a thing (Ex: running my 20yr old Linux install and expecting Chrome to easily install), but even Windows 10 is EOL and was only 10 years old at that point.

I've got my own complaints about Wayland and most desktops from the last decade, but none of that relates to your average user, and I'm certain it's not what GP was referring to. My complaints, FWIW: Wayland not directly supporting networked X, and desktops not supporting separate independent heads (ala pre-xinerama era).

FWIW, that's the only way I use teams, and I've been using it in a professional environment that way for years. The occasional issues are no more prevalent on the web based one than the desktop one. I happen to use it from both Linux (Devuan) and a Chromebook (if someone needs to see my face).

In fact, if you install Microsoft Teams on Windows using the app, it's still just a web app. It used to use the Electron framework (Chromium browser wrapped in an app), and now uses what is essentially Microsoft's version of Electron (Edge WebView2). Installing the app is almost a completely wasted effort - you're installing a whole extra browser and a bunch of static files that make up the site, and you'll have to update the app from time to time rather than just getting the latest when you go to the site, but it will keep it sandboxed at least. IMO, you're much better off simply adding a browser profile to your preferred browser and using it for teams via the web - best of both worlds.

Disclaimer: I have neither tried nor actively use this, not have I seen usage stats, but...

The streaming game solutions can be used directly from a browser. For example, GeForce Now: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/g...

XBox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna are a couple others. They seem to have all the popular titles, including AAA games. I've been meaning to try one of them from a meta quest VR headset - don't have much use for it otherwise, and I don't have a current PS nor XBox nor gaming PC.

Sorry... what are you trying to say? Are you saying the court cited a cause? (I haven't see that) What cause would that even be, while Apple and Musi are the only participants in this suit?

Right... and Somalis are eating cats and dogs. WTF are you talking about?

I don't disagree, but I'm still stuck using teams for work even after Skype for Business / Lync / Office Communicator / Windows Messenger. Dysfunction doesn't seem to impact them as much as one may expect. Web based apps might usher in a big change though - all those office PC's and VM's that no longer need any locally installed apps are awful attractive to someone looking to cut licensing fees and push out some simple Linux desktops.

Agreed. This wouldn't even break their duopoly, and it's unlikely to have much impact on their bottom line. Sure, some people would go to the alt stores, but most people would use the official store for most things.

Take Linux distos as an example - I'll add a couple additional apt sources for specific things, but I stick to the main repos for most packages. I rarely use Windows, but I suspect users behave similarly overall - using the Windows store for most things, since that means it's vetted and will be part of the normal automatic update process, and it requires no additional effort. BRING ON THE ALT STORES ALREADY! :-D

FWIW, I disagree with nearly all delistings and rejections for the app store. If something is crawling with $BAD_STUFF, sure; Otherwise, let it be, even if it competes directly with Apple's own apps. The only thing I disagree with is that this situation is new or significantly different from the previous risk positions.

"Never heard of (Musi)?" It's in the page title and the subject of this discussion!
Maybe you meant before today? In that case, me neither! I kinda hope they make a web based one now just to see what happens. Or open source it and let people compile and sideload it. I'd wager they don't have an Android app because Google probably rejected them from the start, since they own YouTube.

$100M in a year for an app that's basically a proxy to youtube music that injects its own ads or charges a monthly fee? If this is all the slap on a wrist they're getting, it'd be worth it to rename it and try getting it back on the store! IMO, the lawsuit should have been between YouTube and Musi, and that's the biggest issue I have here. I do wonder how much Apple was making off of Musi (30% cut, but did they get a cut of the ad profit?).

Other 3rd party devs? Unless you have a way to make big bank, I'd stay away from their store. I mostly do open source stuff; Their terms conflict with the GPL, so they won't see any apps from me. There's much to appreciate about Apple, but the store situation has got to change.

In the early days, there was no app store. Only pre-installed Apple apps, and Jobs intended for devs to create web-based apps. No joke.
In the early days of the App Store, they were quite strict about restricting any apps that competed with their own (ex. Mail and Safari).
There have been active lawsuits related to such behavior since then.
And now you say:

That doesn't seem all that different.

TFA says Musi made over $100M in a year. Though I disagree with their rules and behavior (the risk), the reward has always seemed worth it for those that succeed even a bit, which is probably why there hasn't been a bigger uprising / boycott / exodus / reaction of some sort.

Um... would that not venture into "with cause"? That's a whole other can of worms, and it doesn't sound like that was tested at all for this decision.

As others have noted, this likely refers to moon landing hoaxers. But there are those that think the moon is artificial.
Hollow Moon on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Recent movie Moonfall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
They're fun theories at least :-)

I hope that, someday, a group of large app makers (Microsoft, Adobe, Meta, ... anyone not Apple and Google) bans together and removes their products from the official stores - though that will require reasonably good support for at least one 3rd party app store for them to move to. People would move quickly and in mass. They haven't pissed everyone off enough just yet, and maybe they'll avoid it, especially as web based apps continue to improve and would be much harder to block.

Where do you get that idea?

"carry anything I want" - try stocking fentanyl and heroin.
"deny service to any person for any reason" - run a diner and try denying service based on race, color, or creed.
"refuse ... anything I want" - run a restaurant without a choking poster, or run afoul of OSHA safety issues.

There's also Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018). Though the supreme court found the cake shop could refuse to make a custom cake based on religious grounds, it was a narrow ruling and highlights that this sort of ruling falls in an area still being contested.

In this Apple v. Musi case, it's hard not to see the potential claims for abuse of market position (anti-monopoly stuff). There have been numerous lawsuits testing these waters - Epic Games / Fortnite v. Apple and Google has been quite a long and storied saga with a myriad of nuanced positions. There are many other music streaming apps allowed on the store, so discriminating against one of them should, IMO, require more justification than, "with or without cause", don't you think?

Look... I agree with most of what you're saying, and I don't think one should depend on a LLM generated solution for such work. However, this sentence from TFS:

Old me, even with 0 experience vibe coding, would have jumped at that challenge. Can't be done? HA! I'll show you. And with all that's going on in that realm, I'm now pretty confident there will be a respectably functional alternative well before years end. Heck, they even have something that resembles it already - they could probably manually do the rest (which, from what I'm reading, is just hooking in the data feeds, adding a chat system, and the non-ending task of securing it all).

Why haven't people learned that almost nothing is impossible? Very improbable, or not feasible, sure. But dump enough effort (time, money, work) into it and even a space elevator or trip to Mars is very very much possible. Some app that humans have ALREADY made? OF COURSE IT CAN BE DONE AGAIN!

Can we assume you're in love with this new MacBook Neo then? There are no glued down parts (aside from some tacky tape on one ribbon cable that easily peels up), and everything is screwed down with standard torx screws. If you haven't, you should check out a tear down video. It's pretty impressive, to be honest.

If their next full sized MacBook is like this, it might be enough to tempt me into getting one. Doubly so if they leave room for an optional component or two (seeing the speakers get removed made me want to stick some more storage in those spots). Imagine if they took the exact same guts and put them into a frame for a 16" MacBook. Maybe they can bring back PCMCIA?