
Upcoming Changes for Mac Software Signed with Developer ID - lighthouse16
https://developer.apple.com/news/?id
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I don’t really see this ending well for the Mac platform.

There’s already tons of legacy Mac software, and (as on iOS) it slowly dies
with each new barrier: Intel switch, Carbon abandonment, 32-bit barrier, etc.
and of course whenever an ARM version comes along. This software has _not_ all
been updated, creating unnecessary headaches for many users over time. In many
environments, a _single_ old, vital application can hamstring the entire
organization to hold back on upgrading the platform and hardware.

Notarization that cannot be applied to legacy software is essentially useless.
Software that people have needed for years doesn’t suddenly become “less
trustworthy” just because Apple says it does. There’s actually a saying in
security that, all other things being equal, the older of two implementations
is more secure because it’s been in proven use for a longer period.

Old software doesn’t even necessarily _build_ with the latest Xcode, and I
have little faith that Apple’s new “notarization” tools will be back-ported to
work with older project files, assuming you can even find the code for all the
programs you use. This will simply be yet another reason that additional Mac
software is abandoned.

