[R-SIG-Mac] R-patched installers cannot be run on Catalina

[Simon Urbanek]

The issue is not the process, the issue is that Apple requires particular way to build the binaries with particular tools in order to even be able to pass the notarization process and our current build does not use those. We can't change the tools in the middle of the release so for R 3.6.x we're stuck with what we are currently using which Apple doesn't accept. Hence the only hope is for R 4.0.0 and we're working on that.

Cheers,
Simon



> On Oct 11, 2019, at 4:39 PM, Marc Schwartz via R-SIG-Mac <r-sig-mac using r-project.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I am going to presume that Simon is already aware of this, but there is a page on the Apple Dev site that describes the workflow that can be implemented/customized to automate the notarization process via scripting:
> 
>  https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/notarizing_your_app_before_distribution/customizing_the_notarization_workflow
> 
> Whether this can be done efficiently to support the nightly builds via the current build system would be the question.
> 
> Also, with nightly builds, there is a risk of the notarization process introducing delays, as just happened:
> 
>  https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/10/apple-macos-catalina-app-notarization-slow/
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Marc Schwartz
> 
> 
>> On Oct 11, 2019, at 4:25 PM, Dr Eberhard W Lisse <el using lisse.NA> wrote:
>> 
>> You could always issue
>> 
>> 	sudo spctl --master-disable
>> 
>> :-)-O
>> 
>> el
>> 
>> On 2019-10-11 19:59 , Kevin Ushey wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> I'm seeing the following when I attempt to install R-patched, as from
>>> http://mac.r-project.org/:
>>> 
>>> ---
>>> 
>>> “R-3.6-branch-el-capitan-signed.pkg” can’t be opened because Apple
>>> cannot check it for malicious software.
>>> 
>>> This software needs to be updated. Contact the developer for more information.
>>> 
>>> ---
>>> 
>>> I suspect this is pain being imposed by the requirement for notarized
>>> applications / installers. The dialog can be overridden through the
>>> Security & Privacy preferences pane, but Apple does not make this
>>> obvious.
>>> 
>>> The official R 3.6.1 installer is not affected; likely because it was
>>> grandfathered in due to its being published before Catalina was rolled
>>> out.
>>> 
>>> Are there plans to notarize these builds of R? (can we be helpful in
>>> making that happen?)
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Kevin
> 
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