Apple Simple

It's that kind of world.

Get It Try It

It's pretty simple actually. Apple constructed a not completely perfect system to flag all ingresses. By 'ingresses' is meant any files that enter onto your local machine. All such files are stamped with a so-called 'extended attribute' which can then get picked up by the system's launch services.

The system's launch services are invoked every time you try to launch an application, either directly by invoking the application itself or indirectly by attempting to open a file which is opened by the application.

If the application has no 'com.apple.quarantine' extended attribute, then the launch services let it go and don't interfere. If however that attribute exists, then the application enters into an alternate universe where radically different rules apply.

It's that world you never want to be in or see. Think of Frodo trying out the One Ring when the Ringwraiths are close by. It's that kind of world.



The key to stopping this absurd behaviour is removing Apple's quarantine flags as soon as they appear. The key to stopping this is to immediately flag all ingresses onto the system. Fortunately for you the user, Apple already provided the means to do this.

The Apple 'file system events' process, which runs unseen on all Apple devices, broadcasts ingresses. More specifically, the process broadcasts changes to file system directories. The amount of data offered is quite extreme actually. Some would say it's 'over the top'. But whatever: the information is available in realtime as the events happen. And that is good for you.

Apple will continue to try to convince you that these egregious precautions are only for your own safety. But that's a lie. Apple's systems were pimped for years as extraordinarily safe. They still are safe. The difference today is that Apple got financially hungry (greedy) and saw an opportunity for making 'money for nothing', to quote Mark Knopfler. What they're really after is controlling the laptop software distribution market.

As you may have read, Apple are now reducing their 30% cut on software sales to 15%, for some vendors at least. (The industry standard cut is 10%.) They'd been getting away with 30% for years.

Please understand what this means. For vendors still have to make ends meet. So vendors have been raising their own prices by 30%. And that means that the one getting buggered was you.

Apple recently introduced something they call 'notarisation'. This is the equivalent of the 'kiddie end' of the swimming pool. They want vendors to get used to submitting their products to Apple for approval in the three-foot end so they'll later not be apprehensive about trying the other side where the waters reach over their heads.

That Apple's 'notarisation' corrupts program executable files is neither here nor there for Apple but can be decisive for vendors who apply much more stringent policies for software integrity.

It's all a shell game anyway, a shell game architected to send tens of billions annually into Apple's overflowing coffers. You should do all in your power to thwart these irredeemable bastards. They're not worth your consideration or your money.

If you're using an Apple computer platform, then take our Test Drive and immediately activate our Keymaster application. This will ensure that your system is no longer bothered by Apple's dirty tricks. And, farther down the line, think seriously about switching platforms.

No, Microsoft Windows is NOT the way to go. You want - you NEED - a truly open source system and you need good uncompromised hardware.

And if you're on an Apple mobile platform, such as iPhone/iPad? Then you're fucked. There is no hope. Sorry.

This is a 'public service announcement' (PSA). We at Rixstep gain nothing financially by warning you of this situation. Quite on the contrary. But we did the same thing when it came to Microsoft and we're doing the same thing now with Apple. Both companies have irretrievably gone to the 'dark side' and must be prevented from going any further, as once again the future of computing is at stake.

Fair weather to you. Stay safe in all ways.

Thanks for your consideration.

See Also
Radsoft Rants: 'I Feel So Clean'

About Rixstep

Stockholm/London-based Rixstep are a constellation of programmers and support staff from Radsoft Laboratories who tired of Windows vulnerabilities, Linux driver issues, and cursing x86 hardware all day long. Rixstep have many years of experience behind their efforts, with teaching and consulting credentials from the likes of British Aerospace, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Lloyds TSB, SAAB Defence Systems, British Broadcasting Corporation, Barclays Bank, IBM, Microsoft, and Sony/Ericsson.

Rixstep and Radsoft products are or have been in use by Sweden's Royal Mail, Sony/Ericsson, the US Department of Defense, the offices of the US Supreme Court, the Government of Western Australia, the German Federal Police, Verizon Wireless, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Microsoft Corporation, the New York Times, Apple Inc, Oxford University, and hundreds of research institutes around the globe. See here.

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