If the future is supposedly going to be this locked down, I wonder what will happen to the internet when there is no hardware left where you can develop stuff like apache-httpd and php and mysqld.
Mac is dead for developers and pro users if this is the case. My current Mac will be my last, and I'll be happy to give my money to Dell instead and anyone else selling more open hardware.
One of our devs just got a new XPS 15. It's a gorgeous machine. Amazing. First time I've envied a non-Apple machine since the early 2000s. I still marginally prefer the Mac track pad but the rest is on par or better.
Can confirm. I sold my MBP and bought myself one of the new Dell 15" developer editions. Trackpad is about on par with the prior physically-clicking mac trackpads. I run Fedora and the only thing that doesn't work is hot-plugging the Ethernet adapter. Otherwise all the usual Linux pitfalls like sleep/wake, wifi, hidpi, touch screen, etc. work fine out of the box. No plans to switch away.
I did exactly the same with an xps 13. Gave my Macbook Retina to my girlfriend, as the new models were not compelling at all. Fedora 25 is lovely on it and I can run docker and KVM on it natively. I will buy another Mac if they give me a proper value proposition.
Yeah, I think they'll lose 99.5% developer mindshare as well. Which is the one thing Ballmer got right. Don't underestimate the value of developer support for a platform like iOS.
Developers also very often go where the system is convenient and open and developer-friendly, see: the rise of linux, php, rails, node, mysql, wordpress, git; and android vs windows phone/mobile.
Do you think you'll be able to use those tools in a gatekeeper-MAS-only world? Or if Apple ships prebuilt versions, how well supported will they be by the authors of those tools if they can't develop and compile new versions on the platform on their own?
For a preview of the future, try this one on macOS 10.12 today:
% lldb --one-line run /usr/bin/python
spoiler:
Current executable set to '/usr/bin/python' (x86_64).
error: process exited with status -1 (cannot attach to process due to System Integrity Protection)
On server I think this is correct. On consumer devices this is really not the case. Has any platform with a huge consumer base ever died by being abandoned by developers first, as opposed to device owners?
Nothing stopping you from installing Blink Shell or Prompt on your iPad-like device and connecting to a GCE instance or your own linux server to work on those things.
One of our devs just got a new XPS 15. It's a gorgeous machine. Amazing. First time I've envied a non-Apple machine since the early 2000s. I still marginally prefer the Mac track pad but the rest is on par or better.