[Gretl-devel] Re: macOS security

On 24 Dec 2019, at 23:12, Allin Cottrell <cottrell(a)wfu.edu&gt; wrote: On Tue, 24 Dec 2019, Berend Hasselman wrote: > The current macOS (1.015, Catalina) has additional security checks. > > The installer gives a warning for the current gretl-2019d-quartz.pkg distribution. Apple warns that the program cannot be run. There is however a button to open the file so it can be opened (at your own risk). > > But it is not safe to assume that this will continue to be the case. See this page: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/welcome/1/web > > As of February 2020 Apple will require that apps distributed outside of the Mac store will have to be notarized. > > See https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/12/23/apple-will-enforce-app-notariz... > > which most likely means that the current gretl package can't be opened and that gretl cannot be run on macOS Catalina. Well, yes, I've commented on this situation before. I purchased an Apple developer certificate some time ago but it expired earlier this year. And if I'm reading their instructions right, to renew it according to their new procedures I'll have to authenticate myself via a current Apple device, which I don't possess. (I have a half share in a 2010 Macbook Air.) This is a substantial tax on free software developers: we have to pay Apple for the privilege of providing our software free to users. It seems to me that gretl users who run Macs might wish to step up and suggest a way forward.