A suggestion to update your web page on how to install Darktable in the Mac OS.
I use Mac OS Tahoe, current version is 26.
This method opens Darktable. Click on the app to open it. If it will not let you and gives a Malware warning, Go to System Settings>Privacy & Security>Security>Open Anyway. A popup appears, click on Open Anyway>Enter your Admin password. The program then opens.
Do the suggested commands not work?
I did not use the second option, using the terminal. The first does not work on the latest Mac OS on my Studio Mac. I found this method through trial and error. It seems logical.
These instructions covers several macOS versions. Earlier versions werenāt that picky as the most recent ones. So thereās not just one way to deal with it ā¦since darktable runs even with 10.14 machines (up to 14 years old macs)
@MStraeten do the instruction need updating? I understand there is probably more than one way to to do it, but the terminal is generally reliable and changes less than the GUI paths.
at least for recent macos version the brute force xattr -c <path_to/darktable_x.y.z.dmg> from terminal keeps apples gatekeeper away ā¦ (better just with downloads of trusted sources - and after validating checksums or a long prayer to the god of internet security)
I think this will also help for older macOS versions but since i donāt have access to older machines (my builds are made in virtual machines with older deployment targets) i canāt proof that as a generic way.
I can remember that with older macOS versions (i think it was < macos 14) open via context menu and confirmation there was sufficient
If I make a suggestion. There are users that have not used Terminal before, and may not want to learn how to use it. Eg, not interested in using commands, or are reticent of doing so. So my suggestion of updating your installation instructions to reflect what is current practise would help people like me. I am suspicious of using anything that is not the way Apple recommends. This comes from a lifetime of using windows.
it needs an paid apple developer account to be able to provide gatekeeper accepted packages. But that need to comply to apples conditions which can have legal implications. So at least thereās no one that steps in to play according to apples rules 
In companies you have legal departments checking conditions and maybe insurance to cover legal risks - but in case of darktable we are talking about FOSS
So if someone isnāt willed to learn how to use a terminal command (it really doesnāt hurt) that isnāt a valid reason to request other private individuals to take liability risksā¦
For your own good and for your right to use freely (as in āfree speechā) the machine that you, not Apple, bought and own, I would warmly invite you to reconsider this stance.
Itās okay for companies to put safeguards in place to protect naive users. It is not okay for them to tell you what you can or cannot do with the hardware that you paid for.
If you want to file a feature request, the proper place for that (where developers will see it but may still decline) is GitHub Ā· Where software is built
As for people that are daunted by terminal, darktable is a ridiculously complex program. I feel like there are few people that wonāt open the terminal but would be happy using darktable.
no need to do this - the gatekeeper topic and the dependency to a paid apple developer account is known to the development team
Iām not too sure I quite understand your stance on this, if Iām honest.
The commonest code you need with darktable, in order to get around the over-zealous gatekeeper within Tahoe 26.2 for instance, is:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/darktable.app
How hard is to copy that line of code, open a new Terminal window, press cmd+v then hit return?
This Terminal command line allows your Mac to RUN your new installation of darktable when it is mounted (installed).
You donāt need to understand Terminal in order to use it - heck, I donāt; thatās a racing certainty!
Darktable terminal commands to circumvent the stupid gatekeeper, are simply Copy,Paste,Enter procedures that take less than thirty seconds to learn.
I am wondering how Krita and Gimp this are doingā¦
The download link for Krita MacOS seems to indicate they have signed the application. Note that there is a Krita foundation which can handle funding e.g. through donations and memberships. GIMP has done something similar through the GNOME foundation. So they both have a way to handle donations, thus they have a source of income. And probably a way to handle the legal and fiscal implications.
Darktable has made the choice not to accept donations.
That may be an even greater risk than typing the command in the terminal (unless that also asks for the admin password):
Thatās not to imply thereās a greater risk with darktable this way, just that those are questions important for the security. As soon as something asks for the admin password, you have to stop and think twiceā¦
they notarize their builds ā¦
itās no rocket science - I just needs one with an paid apple developer account who takes over all liabilities on the distributed package.
Itās not the amount of money since pixels.us indicated to support that - itās about liability
What kind of liability are we talking about (I have just worked with the App Store from a corporate perspective). Would it be an option to ask the help of the GIMP people? Or is this out of the question (just asking)
reading and understanding all liability aspects hidden in Apples developers terms and conditions, plus all laws resulting in liability for the country a package distributor is located is a whole bunch of effort.
At least I for myself wonāt spend that effort or pay legal support just to let others avoid spending effort to type āxattr -c ā¦ā
Itās quite easy to build darktable and provide a package - the maintainers wrote quite quite good instructions. So if anyone wants to have a notarized build he will get all assistance on building and packaging darktable ā¦
No.
Like me. I am at a loss to why Apple, is being made to be the boogy man. The method of opening I found is logical. Apple wants to optimise protection, but gives you the option of using the program, Darktable. By asking you to enter your password, this confirms you want to do this. Entering commands via terminal, is a concern to me.