Goon is free and open source, and it is not code‑signed or notarized
(Apple and Microsoft both charge money for that). So the very first time you open it,
your operating system will refuse and show a scary warning. Nothing is wrong with the app -
you just have to tell your OS you meant to run it. Here is exactly how.
macOS will lie to you.
It will say Goon is “damaged and can’t be opened” or that it
“cannot be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software”.
It is not damaged. It is just unsigned. Do not click “Move to Trash”.
Install it normally.
Double‑click the downloaded Goon‑<version>.dmg,
then drag the Goon icon onto the Applications folder. Eject the disk image when it’s done.
Double‑click Goon. macOS blocks it.
You’ll get one of these. Click Done or Cancel -
never “Move to Trash”.
“Goon” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.
This file was downloaded on an unknown date.
Move to Trash
Cancel
▲ Click Cancel. Do not trash it.Apple Silicon Macs usually show this one. Intel Macs more often show
“…can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.”
Either way, keep going.
Open Terminal and remove the quarantine flag.
Press ⌘ + Space, type Terminal, press Return.
Then paste this line exactly and press Return:
Put Goon somewhere other than /Applications?
Type xattr -d -r com.apple.quarantine (with a trailing space), then
drag Goon.app from the Finder onto the Terminal window - it fills in the path for you.
Then press Return.
Double‑click Goon again. It opens.
You only have to do this once. macOS remembers.
Prefer not to touch the Terminal?
On macOS 15 Sequoia and macOS 26 Tahoe you can sometimes use the click‑through route instead:
open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security, and within about an
hour of the block you’ll see a row offering Open Anyway.
Privacy & Security
Security
“Goon” was blocked to protect your Mac.
This app was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer.
Open Anyway
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Security. You’ll be asked for your
password or Touch ID, then click Open Anyway once more to confirm.Heads up: if you got the “damaged” message (common on Apple Silicon), this row usually
never appears - use the Terminal command in step 3, it always works.
On macOS 14 Sonoma and earlier you can also just Control‑click (right‑click) Goon in the
Finder and choose Open, then Open again.
The Windows warning has no “yes” button… at first.
SmartScreen shows a big blue box whose only button is Don’t run.
The Run anyway button is hidden until you click the small More info link.
That’s the whole trick.
Download the installer - and tell your browser to keep it.
Chrome and Edge often block unsigned installers on sight. Open the browser’s
Downloads list, click the … (or the arrow) next to
Goon.Setup.<version>.exe, and choose
Keep - then Keep anyway if it asks a second time.
Downloads
EXE
Goon.Setup.<version>.exe
This file isn’t commonly downloaded. Make sure you trust it before you open it.
⋯
Delete
Keep
Wording differs slightly between Chrome, Edge and Firefox - look for
Keep, Keep anyway, or Download unsafe file.
Run the installer. SmartScreen appears - click More info.
This screen looks like a dead end. It isn’t. The More info link is small and easy to miss.
Windows protected your PC
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting.
Running this app might put your PC at risk.
More info
Don’t run
▲ Click More info, not “Don’t run”.Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, step 1 of 2.
Now click Run anyway.
The same box grows two extra lines and a new button. “Unknown publisher” is expected -
that’s just what “not code‑signed” looks like.
Windows protected your PC
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting.
Running this app might put your PC at risk.
▲ Click Run anyway.Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, step 2 of 2 - after clicking “More info”.
Let the installer finish.
Goon installs and launches. Windows will not ask again.
No “Run anyway” button at all?
Some machines hide it by policy. Right‑click the downloaded
Goon.Setup.<version>.exe → Properties →
General tab, tick Unblock at the bottom, click OK, then run it again.
GeneralCompatibilityDigital SignaturesDetails
Goon.Setup.<version>.exe
Security:
This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer.
Unblock
OK
Cancel
File → Properties → General. Ticking Unblock removes the
“downloaded from the internet” mark that triggers SmartScreen.
Linux mostly just works.
The AppImage only needs to be marked executable.
Download the AppImage.
You’ll get Goon‑<version>.AppImage.
Mark it executable.
In a terminal:
chmod +x Goon-*.AppImage
Or in your file manager: right‑click → Properties → Permissions →
tick Allow executing file as program.
Run it.
./Goon-*.AppImage
Error about FUSE or libfuse.so.2?
Either install the old FUSE library (sudo apt install libfuse2, or
libfuse2t64 on newer Ubuntu/Debian), or skip FUSE entirely:
./Goon-*.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run
Privacy Policy
This app does not collect any data. It does not do any network communication
except for checking for updates by pinging github. You can turn this feature
off in preferences if you prefer.
