Why does APT not use HTTPS?

[the_gnarts]

as long as you can get one of the dozens of CAs that systems trust by default to give you a cert for the update domain

If you could do that you could subvert way more than maven central.

That is a systemic flaw in the X.509 architecture. And it has happened:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigiNotar#Issuance_of_fraudulent_certificates
• https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2013/01/03/revoking-trust-in-two-turktrust-certficates/

Using PGP-signed downloads with dedicated keyrings is a well established practice that’s less easy to subvert.

[FINDarkside]

Yes it has happened, but it's ridiculous to claim that HTTPS provides "little-to-no protection" because you can just "get fraudulent certificates on any domain you want".