When Apple launched the Mac App Store early last year, the goal was to bring to the Mac the same kind of simple, centralized software marketplace that is available on the iOS platform. While the Mac App Store (unlike the iOS App Store) is not the only way to download software to your Mac, it is does provide an easy way to discover, purchase, and install software that has been vetted by Apple and is known to safe.

Before the Mac App Store had even hit its first birthday, Apple announced that it had seen 100 million downloads. Now it seems to have hit another milestone, though Apple isn’t making much of a fuss about this one. According to French site MacGeneration (Google Translation), the Mac App Store has passed 10,000 available apps. Their data apparently comes from a database query to Apple.

Of course, not everyone is pleased with the App Store model. Many have expressed concern that it is the first step to bringing to the Mac the same sort of “walled garden” ecosystem that is on the iOS platform. The worry is that eventually Mac users will only be able to install software that Apple has approved. To counteract this trend, the HackStore was designed to provide an alternative to the Mac App Store, a place where users can easily find and download software, but without the restrictions and sometimes-dodgy approval process that encumbers the App Store.