While I personally dislike to see an App Store coming from the Modi government, I wonder if there's at least some virtue to the idea of publicly funded App Stores e.g. in the European Union.
Of course there's a risk of easier distribution of state-sponsored Malware and censorship - somewhat similar to state-level DPI - but there could be an advantage in enforcing local laws.
As it stands, software distribution to european mobile clients seems to be restricted by:
* U.S. laws and regulations
* Policies by Google or Apple
* European laws and regulations
Independent App Stores could probably help with at least the first, if not the second point one as well. At least from a governments perspective.
Of course there's a risk of easier distribution of state-sponsored Malware and censorship - somewhat similar to state-level DPI - but there could be an advantage in enforcing local laws.
As it stands, software distribution to european mobile clients seems to be restricted by:
Independent App Stores could probably help with at least the first, if not the second point one as well. At least from a governments perspective.For Free Software Users, https://f-droid.org/en/ is course preferable. Seems to be registered in the UK according to https://f-droid.org/en/about/