Mac Osx Is Unix Based

I would like to know more about this but am not sure where to start (looked around the Mac site and found lots of marketing). --ChanningWalton

There's a lot of good info at the homepages of WilfredoSanchez?, one of the head engineers for the BSD portions of MacOsx:

http://advogato.org/person/wsanchez/

It is such a large subject that I cannot really go into massive detail without getting really boring. However, basically it is running over the Kernel named Darwin which is (largely) OpenSource; In fact it has even been able to be installed on intel hardware (admittedly with limited support). Darwin is actually a complete operating system in itself. Have a look at http://www.apple.com/darwin/. As for MacOsxIsUnixBased this is absolutely true, and means that it will get all the benefits of PreEmptiveMultiTasking? and ProtectedMemory as well as the sheer beauty of Aqua. Hope this helps and is interesting. I certainly can't wait for it! -- MatthewTheobalds

[PeterMerel almost certainly knows a great deal more. But remember Peter's ChiefArchitect for an exciting if mysterious Californian start up these days. Show him the respect that's due such an important dude if he takes time to share more secrets with the likes of us.]

Um, (a) I'm not respectable, (b) I'm not important, and (c) I have no secrets, only questions. As to OS X, yes, it's extremely pretty and you can build almost any unix app on it without trouble. --PM

MacOsx and XwindowProtocol

After MacOsx was released, XwindowServers were available from Tenon, XFree86 (initially ported by JohnCarmack), and maX (http://www.materialarts.com/maX/index.html).

In January, 2003, Apple released a beta X11 server, based on XFree86 4.3, available at http://www.apple.com/macosx/x11/. It had the benefit of being faster than previous ports, tight Quartz integration (Aqua window manager, compositing, and anti-aliased fonts) and official support from Apple.

Apple's XwindowServer is now in production and automatically bundled on the 10.3 install CD. Nice!

Thanks guys :-) I want one now too. --ChanningWalton

The question is WillAppleGetThisOneRight?

Quick summary: If there's any good reason to prefer MacOsx to LinuxPpc, it hasn't yet come to light.

This one looks like a matter of taste or personal preference. LinuxPpc lets you run a linux OS on a PPC processor. MacOsx gives developers the choice of Darwin, Java, Cocoa, Carbon and Classic (explaining these terms, Classic is old mac software under emulation in its own protected task, Carbon is the name of the library that allows code to run on OS 8, 9 and X, Cocoa is the rejuvenated OpenStep environment (see CocoaDev for a wiki dedicated to Cocoa development), Darwin is the FreeBsd variant on top of the Mach 3 microkernel).

How do I run my existing Mac software on LinuxPpc? How do I run the Mac user interface on it? Are there drivers for all my peripherals? (Also, maybe you shouldn't characterize something as a summary unless it accurately summarizes what follows it.)

running Mac software on LinuxPpc would require a Mac emulator for linux, and these probably only exist in experimental form.

OK .. my 2 cents. Mac software running on LinuxOs works fine. Look at the MacOnLinux? (MOL) project. It runs MacOs 8-9 under Linux, either in a window, or full-screen. The compatibility and speed have said to be excellent - better than MacOsx's compatibility features. Also, Linux will be much faster than MacOsx and require fewer resources. Take a look at the MachKernel? .. its known for some flakyness in how it handles VirtualMemory?. Also, Mac isn't trully Unix. Like NextStep, it uses NetInfo? instead of /etc based configuration, and handles user accounts and root access and such very differently. Its very close to Unix, but its not. Its NextStep/OpenStep with a slightly prettier GUI and the annoyance of forcing your CPU to grok postscript (or in this case PDF). As for OpenSource, Darwin might be, but its just a BSD server for the Mach kernel - add it to the list of already available free implementations of BSD, and its not even one of the better implementations ... so there is nothing there really. The GUI and Object system (still based on ObjectiveCee) is nice, but no longer fully OpenStep compatible that I know of. Once they release the API and allow GnuStep to become binary compatible so we can OS X apps under Linux PPC, then I'll respect Apple a lot more, and we'll see just how special/efficient their OS really is. The NeXT has been reborn as a new Mac, but I still see it as a NeXT. I already have one, and I much prefer my Linux box. The only Macs I found that felt right to me had dual Ghz CPUs and a GB of RAM, and I wanted a 3 button wheel mouse for it bad and LinuxPPC with Gnome. The OS is a hog. Menus shouldn't be so far away (I tear mine off and move then around - can MacOsx do that?). And even with all that horse power under MacOsx, I still found the annoying spinning color-wheel cursor on occasion (which looks just like the one on my color NeXT). I'm yet to be impressed. -- EvanLanglois

Above is FUD. Linux is not MUCH faster than MacOsx. MacOsx has a modified Mach kernel. MacOsx is a Unix. If you deny this, then you have not a clue about Unix at all. Unix is not about (/etc). Ever used a Solaris box and NIS??? I use a mouse with 3 buttons and a wheel all day. It works out of the box.

Actually MacOsx 10.2.4 is pretty cool! And it runs perfectly on some of the best computers available.

I keep thinking: Darwin + (TinyX + xDgs) + gnustep = openstep reborn. I guess that MacOsx is probably OK, but I really liked NextStep and I assume I'd equally like OpenStep.

What about MacOsxForJavaDevelopment? Anyone had any luck with it? James Gosling uses an Apple PowerBook for Java programming.

-- GlenStampoultzis

Have a look at http://www.netbeans.org/articles/mac.html. The IDE probably exercises MacOsx quite a bit :-). --ChanningWalton

First thing I did with MacOsx was to connect Perl up to the CPAN archives and start downloading packages. Wonderful to be able to do this on a Mac.

Currently building MySql even as we speak. I'll then be able to use Real BASIC to build nice little front-ends to MySql (or Postgresql) and provide native GUI apps talking to the databases.

MacOsx is a fun little package. Little!

-- RayCote

For those interested in a Java IDE on OSX, the EclipseIde is being ported to OSX. Its in very early days and help is needed - particularly expertise in the MacOsx Cocoa/Carbon libs. --ChanningWalton

I think MacOsx is great now its running on unix. My iMac is so super and it running Perl, joe, emacs, mysql, sshd, apache. What really bugs me is that the sexy plexyglass keyboard is missing most of the really important unix symbols. or am I supposed to learn them off by heart? -- Phill Paderborn http://www.mywebstuff.com

There are a lot of free Unixes and free clones of Unix out there, but I think MacOsx is the best flavor of Unix you can buy today. -- ChrisGarrod a convert, and AppleShareholder?