Windows code signing plan change
Published on September 13, 2026 by AgreeDK
Hi everyone,
A quick transparency update on how your contributions to OpenSAK are being used.
When we set up the "Code Signing (Windows & macOS)" budget, the plan was to buy both an Apple Developer Program membership (~$99/year) and a paid Windows Authenticode certificate (~$300/year) to remove security warnings on both platforms.
Since then, we've completed the macOS side (Apple Developer Program is active, and macOS builds are now signed and notarized). For Windows, we found a better path: distributing OpenSAK through the Microsoft Store via MSIX packaging, which includes free Microsoft signing and automatic updates - no paid certificate needed. This is now working and tested (see issue #786).
That means the funds originally earmarked for a Windows certificate are no longer needed for that purpose. Our current balance is $428.39.
We'd like to propose redirecting these funds toward a used Mac mini (M1) for local macOS testing and builds - right now we rely entirely on volunteer testers for anything Mac-related, which slows things down and creates a single point of failure.
If anyone has concerns about this change of purpose, please reach out (via this platform or the Facebook group) within the next week. Otherwise we'll go ahead, and as always, any purchase will be submitted as a transparent, receipted reimbursement expense here on Open Collective.
Thanks for supporting OpenSAK!
A quick transparency update on how your contributions to OpenSAK are being used.
When we set up the "Code Signing (Windows & macOS)" budget, the plan was to buy both an Apple Developer Program membership (~$99/year) and a paid Windows Authenticode certificate (~$300/year) to remove security warnings on both platforms.
Since then, we've completed the macOS side (Apple Developer Program is active, and macOS builds are now signed and notarized). For Windows, we found a better path: distributing OpenSAK through the Microsoft Store via MSIX packaging, which includes free Microsoft signing and automatic updates - no paid certificate needed. This is now working and tested (see issue #786).
That means the funds originally earmarked for a Windows certificate are no longer needed for that purpose. Our current balance is $428.39.
We'd like to propose redirecting these funds toward a used Mac mini (M1) for local macOS testing and builds - right now we rely entirely on volunteer testers for anything Mac-related, which slows things down and creates a single point of failure.
If anyone has concerns about this change of purpose, please reach out (via this platform or the Facebook group) within the next week. Otherwise we'll go ahead, and as always, any purchase will be submitted as a transparent, receipted reimbursement expense here on Open Collective.
Thanks for supporting OpenSAK!