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> On macOS, it is now impossible to distribute a VPN or a virtualization software without permission from Apple

No it’s not. It’s impossible if you don’t want to require your customers to change some security settings.

We can have a discussion about whether that’s practical for a developer, but either way, the user has control over their Mac. Completely different situation from iOS.

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> the user has control over their Mac.

for now, because observing the current trends, they'll likely won't for much longer... all for the sake of safety and convenience.

People have been saying the same thing since the Mac App store came out. And yet, here we are in exactly the same position.

Clearly we are not. The amount of changes Apple have made are plenty. VPNs are harder to use, side loading is harder, adblockers are ineffective, etc.

None of those things are true on macOS. Maybe you could argue sideloading is harder, but only insofar as it requires a three word Terminal command. One I know by heart. `sudo spctl --master-disable`.

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