if it wasn't for people doing their small thing, maybe the EU wouldn't require Apple "opening up"

It is way too early to call that this will result in a net benefit for software freedom.

We already have a platform—Android—that provides the freedoms that the EU is mandating Apple now provide. What we are getting is a second platform that now cannot provide an alternative type of service to consumers. That honestly feels like a net loss in consumer choice, not progress.