Regarding Google's new bullshit rules for "sideloading": It's a load of complete and utter horseshit that won't do squat about scammers but *will* scare people into only installing apps that have been blessed by Google.

However, one thing that irks me and that few seem to bring up: the discourse is all framed around power users. "This only affects power users!" and other shit like that.

This isn't about "power users", whatever the fuck that means anymore, this will hurt fucking everyone. A closed platform empowers the gatekeeper and nobody else. And fuck off if you think Android is still open just because you can go trough a bunch of hoops to "sideload". It's like saying people were free to cross the border from East Germany to West Germany because all they had to do was dodge the bullets as the border guards used them as live target practice.