Adium, IMF, and the Mac Developer ID

[Evan Schoenberg, M.D.]

As some of you may already be aware, Apple is introducing a feature called "Gate Keeper" with its upcoming OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" release.   This will by default block the use of applications which aren't digitally signed with a certificate issued by Apple. That certificate is keyed to a specific Developer ID, which will be name/company verified and is revokable.

I would like to register an Apple Developer ID specifically for Adium's distribution under the auspices of IMF.

I suggest I register it with an email address "adium at imfreedom.org" and company listed as "Instant Messaging Freedom, Inc."  (That company name will show up if the user manually validates the code signing). We could over-engineer for the possibility of another OS X IM app being under the IMF umbrella, if needed, but I think this is the easiest route.

To do so, I would need an email forwarder for adium at imfreedom.org to evan at adium.im (and of course we could change this is I were no longer the point of contact for whatever reason). If this is okay, could a server admin please add that alias?

I have Adium-donated funds available for purposes of the necessary membership fee; there will be no charges to IMF, and I won't need reimbursement from IMF.

Off topic: It's worth noting that this digital signature is not embedded in the executable code and that the user may choose to disable certificate checking via a systemwide preference; it is therefore not a GPL violation to distribute an application signed in this way. Philosophically, there's an argument to be made about the way Apple is currently implementing this, as a $99/year membership is required to obtain such a certificate, and distribution of signed apps by anonymous individuals is tricky at best and impossible at worst.  My hope is that the Developer ID certificate program will be made free by the time OS X 10.8 is public, several months from now. We shall see.

Best,
Evan
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