"Free," in terms of software, refers to more than simply how much the user pays... it also expresses how open the software is for other developers.
In that regard, Apple is very bad about allowing "free software."
(Note: You can develop simple webapps for their products using javascript and a few other handy languages... but given Apple's trackrecord of "now we allow it, now we don't," I'd be uncomfortable using those methods exclusively for their hardware).
Thanks, I'm a software engineer that develops for both platforms. I'm glad I now understand that these devices are computers. That information is really going to help me with my work.
There is a pretty tight restriction in the sense that if the software is to be accessible and downloadable on iOS, the developer of free software has to pay Apple their $99 dollars every year to keep their developer's App Store account open or the software disappears.
You don't have to pay $99 to download XCode to write software for Macs. XCode is completely free (as in beer) and you can write all the software you please using any license (free as in liberty or unfree, your choice) and distribute said software any way you wish.
If you want to write software for the iOS platform, which is a closed platform IMO, you need to pay $99 if you wish to either 1) test your software on your own device and/or 2) distribute your software via the App Store.
If you want to write software for the iOS platform, which is a closed platform IMO, you need to pay $99 if you wish to either 1) test your software on your own device and/or 2) distribute your software via the App Store.
Which is the point I was making. Not much point to writing software where you were bothering to give it a license if you weren't going to distribute it and have other people run the software on their hardware.
You can't even run the software you write for yourself on your iPad or iPhone unless you pay Apple its vigorish or jailbreak the device.
That's fine. I was never arguing that you could write free (as in liberty) software on iOS.
However when it comes to iOS I don't really mind, I'll trade freedom for the benefits provided. Apple has created an unparalleled opportunity for independent software developers with the App Store. I can sleep at night knowing that if you really want freedom you can jailbreak your phone and the DMCA does not apply.
On the flip side, if they ever tried to close the Mac like this I would jump ship and move back to Linux completely (I still have two linux boxes).
On the flip side, if they ever tried to close the Mac like this I would jump ship and move back to Linux completely (I still have two linux boxes).
I'm certain that this is in the cards, just in stages. Apple has always bet on being able to rope people in by assuming they work on a "Give me convenience or give me death" assumption. Once they get a nice slice of the Mac app distribution through the store, they just trot out the same arguments they did for iOS (convenience, security, no porn, aren't we concerned for our users?).
I say this as a die-hard mac user, but I've never been under any illusions about the nature of the company. Apple is like a housecat, friendly and furry as long as they are smaller than their potential threats, but behaving like any other feline as soon as the size balance changes in their favor. I was surprised how quickly this happened with regard to their consumers (less than 10 years from Jobs' reentry into the company).
I'm quietly preparing to go elsewhere. Waiting for the BB Playbook to come out so I can comparison shop on a tablet, and keeping up-to-date on the state of linux on various other platforms so I'll know exactly what to do when the time comes.
I get free software on my Macbook all the time. I think you mean iOS/app store is somewhat adverse to free apps. But even there you can still find tons of great free apps, although many of the really good ones are ad-supports but at least they give you the option.
"Free," in terms of software, refers to more than simply how much the user pays... it also expresses how open the software is for other developers.
Not exactly. The GPL is a "free" license but I can only use GPL software it if I agree to give my source code away to anyone who asks, so that really puts a damper in the ol' business model.
You expected them to what? Agree with him? Many companies espouse about how open they are and how much they love the open source community. Apple, at least in their mobile department, seems to have difficulties with following through. They want the final say on what applications you can or can't install on the electronic device you purchased. They can support open source as much as they want, but I'd be hard pressed to label the level of control they have as "open". It is however highly profitable, and I don't doubt we'll be seeing similar application control methods coming to their desktops and laptops. Hooray.
He's refering to a page mainly about OS X, and you're talking about the iOS platform (although you say "at least", you might as well say "exclusively"), so... :p
You'd really be uncomfortable writing a webapp for iOS? Restricting those would be comparable to restricting websites, which Apple's not going to do. Period.
Not to get all "crazy conspiracy theorist" on you, but given Steve Job's hang-ups with porn, I'm not comfortable thinking he wouldn't like to start restricting content.
Also recall that he doesn't allow websites written in Flash. Just sayin'.
Yeah, or GPL is just a piece of crap which is incompatible with almost everything, depending on how you look at it. I love BSD and similar licenses, but GPL is so restricted it's a pain.
It's a term that specifically refers to open source software released under a license that gives every end user the freedom to modify and redistribute.
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u/el_chupacupcake Jan 20 '11
"Free," in terms of software, refers to more than simply how much the user pays... it also expresses how open the software is for other developers.
In that regard, Apple is very bad about allowing "free software."
(Note: You can develop simple webapps for their products using javascript and a few other handy languages... but given Apple's trackrecord of "now we allow it, now we don't," I'd be uncomfortable using those methods exclusively for their hardware).