>The proper alternative to Google Play is F-Droid, not downloading/baking .apks.

Disagree entirely. Google Play refused to download some app on my phone because it thought the specs weren't good enough for whatever reason even though it worked fine on my previous weaker phone.

I found the APK, I downloaded it, and just installed it. Why would I want to first download some other middle-man to deal with any of this shit? Ideally there would be no "store" at all on my phone.

Editing to add this from the front page of HN right now: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45082595 (F-Droid site certificate expired)

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Telaneo a day ago | parent | next [-]

I'd probably still want a common repo to get software from, for the same reason we use package managers and repos on Linux. Not to mention that the app store experience is more friendly to the newbies out there. But the 'just download an apk/exe/.app and run it' should still exist as a lowest common denominator. Not to mention that the existence of that possibility will hopefully keep stores in check and not become overtly hostile, since if they do, users can just say 'fuck it' and download their software piecemeal.

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MiddleEndian a day ago | parent [-]

In my experience on Linux, I like having a repo for terminal programs, but anything with a GUI I'd rather just install and manage myself.

	▲	Telaneo a day ago \| parent [-]
		Flathub's proven to be a really nice repo of GUI apps for me at least, so I don't see much of a reason to draw that line.

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joquarky a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I wish that standard software development practices included encouraging the implementation of an "I know what I'm doing, stop coddling me" option.