packagePkg for distribution outside the Apple App Store

[toBYTEas]

⚠️ Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe

In ElectronBuilderConfigGenerator.kt line 692 there is a comment about "PKG is always treated as an App Store format". I dont fully understand, it says the certificate identifier "Developer ID Installer" is hardcoded in electron builder, but this is exactly what I want. Which part does restrict packagePkg to only distribute via the App Store?

💡 Describe the solution you'd like

I would like to build a PKG for the distribution outside of the Apple App Store. Just like for the packageDmg I would use the Developer ID certificate Apple for signing and notorization.

🤚 Do you want to develop this feature yourself?

• Yes
• No
• If I could I would

[kdroidFilter]

Hello,

Apologies for the late reply.

To be perfectly honest, there's no strict technical reason why I limited the PKG format to the App Store — it was more of a pragmatic choice. The PKG format cannot support auto-updates by nature, so I preferred to reserve it for the App Store (just like MSIX on Windows, which I reserved for the Windows Store for the same reasons).

Outside of the App Store, PKG would indeed have a clear advantage: the ability to run pre/post-installation or uninstallation scripts. Unfortunately, this feature isn't supported by electron-builder, which reinforced my decision to limit this format to avoid confusion for the average developer.

As a result, Nucleus automatically sandboxes the PKG format, which offers several benefits:

• Some modules can easily adapt their behavior (for example, the scheduler module wouldn't work in sandbox mode — I automatically make it a no-op to prevent crashes).
• Through the runtime module, developers can very easily adapt their application's behavior depending on whether it's distributed via the App Store or through manual distribution.

May I ask why you need the PKG format outside of the App Store? Your use case might make me reconsider my position.

Best regards,