Andy Inhatko for one is feeling uneasy about the implications for Applescript of the AppStore's imminent sandboxing requirements.

I mainly use OF as a kind of operational front end to my Devonthink databases, and would be a bit discouraged if instant (scripted) exchange of messages/data between applications was to dry up ...

Is there an Omni view of what sandboxing (and other elements of iOssification) mean for the future of Omni scripting?

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Well, a circumspect silence on the Omni side of this, but a frank, helpful and slightly worrying response from Christian Grunenberg of DEVONtechnologies.

I think that the golden age of Mac and OS X may be coming to an end. Mickey Mouse approaches :-)

In the end, Microsoft bit off more than they could really chew. A risk for Apple now, as well.

Where next ? Ubuntu ?

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[DrJJWMac]

Thank you for the post and references. It sparked a lot of interest and further reading.

As a low-level user of and otherwise strong proponent for robust Applescript in my core applications, I remain curious about where this will go.

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JJW

[DrJJWMac]

Having read a bit further, I think the questions I have can be framed specifically as ...

1) Are you bemoaning that OmniFocus will loose open permission to push information out and demand it to be stored in to a DevonThink database via an Applescript conduit?

As a user who demands integrity in application security, I would certainly want to put an end to this type of behavior for any app as a bad practice all around. OTOH ...

2) Are you bemoaning that OmniFocus will no longer be able to serve up information internal to its own database after a request from DevonThink that has been offered via Applescript as a conduit?

I would certainly hope this can still be possible because (if I understand correctly) the sandbox control would actually be on how the request is initiated, not on the request itself. IOW, when YOU have DevonThink as the frontmost app, you should have sandbox permission to initiate such an Applescript request directly from DevonThink to "pull" information from OmniFocus, however when DevonThink is a background app, "Applescript" as the "user" should be denied permission categorically to initiate that same request.

Basically, my thought is, while you should still be able to use DevonThink to pull information from OmniFocus, you should never be able to use OmniFocus to push information in to DevonThink. In addition, no one but the "real you" should ever be able to command DevonThink to pull information in to itself from somewhere else.

I hope this is clear in my as-yet-still-muddled understanding of the implications of a sandbox.

I might comment more, but could you elaborate further in case I am misunderstanding?

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JJW

I suppose the dilemma of universal machines is that they can be used for consumption as well as production.

Treating apps as fields in which consumers can happily graze, and sticking up electric fences all around, is probably a good enough way of separating the sheep from the wolves.

I wonder, however, if the application is really the relevant level of scale when machines are used for production ? A work-flow of any real complexity will need a tool-chain - hence the venerable unix pipeline.

Electric fences ? Well, it's one way to manage sheep (or prison populations) but on your own farm, you need to able to switch them off.

( if you find you can't, then it's probably not your farm anymore )