November 4, 2025
Is your laptop a snitch?
Normalize Identifying Corporate Devices in Your Software
Dev wants apps to spot work laptops—users debate cat‑and‑mouse, trust, and cringe overshares
TLDR: A developer proposes letting apps detect work-managed laptops using simple checks and a public list of company servers. Comments explode over cat-and-mouse enforcement, fear of punishing honest users, and “never trust software that doesn’t trust you,” debating if this protects licenses or turns apps into snitches.
The developer behind this post suggests a simple trick: let apps spot if they’re running on a work-owned laptop by checking “mobile device management” (MDM), the software companies use to lock down devices. They even shared quick commands for Mac and Windows, plus a call to crowdsource a public list of company servers. The idea: stop commercial freeloaders. The reaction: instant popcorn.
Top comment warned this will spark a cat‑and‑mouse chase, with cheaters dodging checks while legit users get hassled. Another joked like a reality‑TV confessional, blurting their company’s URL—peak overshare energy. Power users fumed that some folks enroll their own Macs in MDM to tame Apple’s security nags; this move would accidentally punish them. One critic called it heavy‑handed enforcement that “makes life hard for the 99% while the 1% bypasses it,” and the vibe snowballed.
Then came the trust crisis. A zinger landed: “Never trust software that doesn’t trust you.” Fans of stricter licensing say developers deserve to get paid; skeptics say turning apps into workplace hall monitors is a slippery slope to license cops and false positives. Translation for normals: it’s not about code—it’s about whether your laptop is about to start tattling.
Key Points
- •The article provides Rust code to detect MDM enrollment on macOS using the /usr/bin/profiles command.
- •It provides Rust code to detect MDM enrollment on Windows using dsregcmd /status and parse MdmUrl.
- •MDM enrollment detection is presented as a useful but not definitive method to identify corporate devices for dual-licensing enforcement.
- •The author proposes creating a public repository of known corporate MDM server URLs to improve identification accuracy.
- •Readers can contribute by running specific system commands and sharing MDM server information, and are given links to contact and follow the author.