@2something @fdroidorg @marcprux 1. I believe that it's specifically about stalkerware that gets distributed as sideloaded, anonymously signed APKs to avoid detection by Google Play Protect. I think this change will have a significant positive impact on the stalkerware market and result in a reduction in technology-facilitated intimate partner violence, making it a worthy tradeoff. Most open-source projects are not developed anonymously, and if developers don't want to get a certificate, nothing stops a third-party marketplace like F-Droid from building a signed, distributable APK for them. The same people complaining about this have already built the solution. "I'm altering the deal, pray I don't alter it further" just feels entitled and missing the point entirely.
2. I would specifically get a phone with an unlocked bootloader, because I want to run free and open source software on it, as I already have. I don't want other people tampering with my phone and requiring messing with the bootloader and performing a factory reset (which i would notice) to sideload untrusted apps is a security feature I want.

If you don't like it, try coming up with a better solution, or you know, try doing some work with victims of stalking by intimate partners to realize it is actually a much bigger problem for them than whatever spying Google Play Services is doing. Have a good day.

@fdroidorg @marcprux its a good thing actually as the main thing it affects is intimate partner violence stalking and really low hanging fruit malware. you can literally still sideload, you just cant distribute apks anonymously. you can still modify a phone to remove the restriction, just not without the owner noticing, which is the actual point. this is completely out of touch with the reality of the android malware ecosystem, the harm it causes and why they are actually doing this.