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"xbill" for Mac OS X

Posted by pudge on from the it-passes-the-time dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Seems like some guys have made a GPL'd Mac OS X game called xGates. It's very similar to xbill but you get to use a chainsaw and it's awfully violent. Funny to see how the Mac community is slowly but surely becoming UNIXified. =)" Hey, xbill was a Unix app first, but we Mac users have hated Microsoft and Gates since before Linux or xbill even existed! :-)

31 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    This wrong on 4 different levels of wrongness. I love it!

    --

    Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

    1. Re:Wow by b_pretender · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Although I'm no fan of Bill Gates, I find this game disturbing. Out of respect for a fellow human being, I don't need some game that shows a detailed image of someone running a chainsaw through somebodies stomach or bill gates' head being held high in the air.

      No Thanks. I prefer my gore to be anonymous as in Quake 3 violence.

      BTW, since Bill Gates does give so much of his (personal) money to education and third world countries, maybe we should respect him a little more by *not* playing this game.

    2. Re:Wow by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
      BTW, since Bill Gates does give so much of his (personal) money to education and third world countries, maybe we should respect him a little more by *not* playing this game.

      Maybe if Bill Gates didn't have a monopoly over the OS market Apple would have more money to give to third world countries. Plus they could afford to give everyone a raise.

      --

      Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

    3. Re:Wow by eyeball · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Maybe if Bill Gates didn't have a monopoly over the OS market Apple would have more money to give to third world countries. Plus they could afford to give everyone a raise [spymac.com].

      Maybe if Steve Jobs & co. didn't have a monopoly over the hardware that runs OS X, Microsoft wouldn't have such a large market share.

      --

      _______
      2B1ASK1
    4. Re:Wow by daviddennis · · Score: 2

      I'm not planning to play the game because any violent games, whether anonymous or not, are simply not my cup of tea.

      However, there are enough people who hate Bill's products that I think he's wound up damaging more people's lives than he's uplifted.

      D

    5. Re:Wow by hype7 · · Score: 2
      Maybe if Steve Jobs & co. didn't have a monopoly over the hardware that runs OS X, Microsoft wouldn't have such a large market share.


      and maybe if they didn't have a "hardware monopoly", they'd end up with a hotch-potch operating system like Windows that doesn't run properly on anything.

      -- james
    6. Re:Wow by pi+radians · · Score: 2

      That's mostly because the clones had a superior product at a lower price...

      The clones also brought on more hardware errors than any Apple I've ever owned. You always get what you pay for.

      --

      sin(6cos(r)+5A)
  2. UNIXified by skinfitz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Funny to see how the Mac community is slowly but surely becoming UNIXified.

    Next they will be using the terminal app. Seriously though, transitioning from OS9 to OSX must be a bit like moving from an automatic to a stick shift.

    Watch this get modded down because it's mac related.

    1. Re:UNIXified by Dephex+Twin · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Seriously though, transitioning from OS9 to OSX must be a bit like moving from an automatic to a stick shift.
      Not really. OS X is more like an automatic compared to other UNIX-based OSes, since the command line is there, you just never have to use it if you don't want.

      Actually, now that I'm using OS X, I have less technical stuff to deal with. I do a lot of technical stuff for fun, but in terms of what I have to do... well I don't have to do anything. The system has never crashed before. Back in the OS 9 days, things would start crashing, and you'd have to go in and do extension troubleshooting and stuff like that. If you bought a peripheral, you'd have to install drivers.

      I know you can get into much more confusing stuff with OS X, but like I said, that thing never crashes. On OS 9 it was an inevidability that you would regularly have to deal with tougher stuff.
      --

      If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
    2. Re:UNIXified by derch · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Watch this get modded down because it's mac related.

      I have mod points to give. I was going to give one, but you had to put that line in.

      This is the Apple section. Mac related comments are, well... expected and common place in the Apple section. There are moderators who specifically hit this section because it's not overly moderated and reading at -1 is much easier on the eyes (and on browser load times).

      Save your cynicism for a Mac comment in a 'BSD is dead' or 'Windoze blows' article.

    3. Re:UNIXified by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously though, transitioning from OS9 to OSX must be a bit like moving from an automatic to a stick shift.

      Interesting analogy. It's more like transitioning from a 60's automatic to a tiptronic.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    4. Re:UNIXified by inkswamp · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Seriously though, transitioning from OS9 to OSX must be a bit like moving from an automatic to a stick shift.

      Not exactly. I've watched non-geeks where I work move from OS 9 to OS X without much problem and without noticing too much difference. Apple did a good job of hiding a lot of the geek stuff so a better analogy would be that going from OS 9 to OS X must be like moving from an automatic to a stick shift that lets you drive like it's an automatic anyway.

      --
      --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
  3. Re:Mac users rewriting history again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Looks like XBill dates to 1994 -- "XBill was mostly written during the summer of 1994 by Brian Wellington and Matias Duarte". While Mac OS X is newer than this, the Macintosh OS and Mac community date back at least a decade before 1994, to the infamous Superbowl ad in 1984, and some would probably even argue before this, to the Lisa and Apple IIe systems if you allow for Mac Users == Apple Users.

  4. But there's been xBill for OSX for almost a year by OiBoy · · Score: 2, Informative

    xbill was ported to OSX almost a year ago.

    http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-PaloAlt o/ 8861/mac/#macbill

    --
    `fortune -o`
  5. Not only is it a game... by Whatsthiswhatsthis · · Score: 2, Funny

    But it's GPLed!

    Other than porting, what exactly can you do with the code for a chainsaw game?

    Oh yeah, BFC mods.

  6. xbill is a wannabe by analog_line · · Score: 2

    Anyone reading this been using a Mac long enough to remember "Bash Big Blue", which was just clicking on a jumping around IBM logo. I remember playing that on my family's Mac Plus back with the original Daleks game, Airborne, and Orbiter.

    1. Re:xbill is a wannabe by dalassa · · Score: 2

      Yes! Someone else with a mac plus and all the dinky games that occupied endless hours. Not only did I while away my youth playing Bash Big Blue, I spent probably months worth playing brickles.

      --
      Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.
  7. So, who else reached level 13? by Alex+Thorpe · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's a simplistic game, but as Brain says when he flattens Pinky, "That was very therapeutic." Of course, the DoJ was useless! And of course, no matter how much you might, Bill wins in the end.

    Oh, and nice Rammstein soundtrack! Some of the other interface elements reminded me of the classic Ambrosia game Maelstrom.(which was ported to UNIX and later back to OS X)

    --
    "Common Sense Ain't" -Unknown
    1. Re:So, who else reached level 13? by Alex+Thorpe · · Score: 2

      A trackpad? Level 15? Dude, I'm impressed! I hate using those things myself.

      --
      "Common Sense Ain't" -Unknown
  8. Something terribly wrong with the game... by Tseran · · Score: 5, Funny

    Firstly, there is a huge problem. Bill installs Windows WAY too fast. If anyone I know could install Windows on a Mac in THAT short of time, I would think they switched it into an Intel machine. Even VPC doesn't load that fast ;) Secondly, as we all know, when Bill play with Windows in public, it blue screens. None of the Macs bluescreened once he installed Windows.... Good start, but we need more realism...and more bloody pieces of Bill lying around.

    --
    .sig: It's what's for dinner.
  9. Can we get an "Amen"? by matzim · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well said.

    MS bites. I think we pretty much agree on that. But to take MS-bashing to the point where we revel in images of the chairman of the company being graphically dismembered, we've crossed a line somewhere.

  10. re-ported to mac you mean by veggiespam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    i remember playing "xbill" long before the X windows version was written. it was on a mac se, long ago. if you read the xbill history in the tarball (or help screens), you'll notice they pay homage to the original mac game. so, the game concept returns back to its source.

    1. Re:re-ported to mac you mean by bwelling · · Score: 2, Informative

      Huh? README.Ports mentions that it had been ported to a Mac long ago, but it definitely wasn't written on a Mac. I think I should know...

  11. Re:Amiga users were first by kalidasa · · Score: 4, Informative

    hmmm. us Amiga users were hating IBM and Microsoft before Macs or Unix or X-Anything existed

    Since UNIX predates Microsoft, I sincerely doubt that. The earliest work on UNIX dates to 1969. The zero date in UNIX is 1 Jan 1970. It was in use in a production environment by about 1971 or so. Microsoft was founded in 1975, iirc, after the Altair 8800 was created. The Apple II was out by 1977. The IBM PC and MS-DOS were released in August 1981; indeed, one can see influences from UNIX (and indirect UNIX influences through influences from CP/M) in MS-DOS. The original development of the Amiga began in 1982, and it wasn't released by Commodore (not its original developer) until 23 Jun 1985. X was developed in the mid-1980s according to the X.org website (later 1980s according to most other resources I found). Linus Torvald's famous email can be dated quite precisely, to 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT.

    So one could argue that Amiga users were hating IBM before X users, Linux users, and OS X users, but that's about it. (Assuming that the "mid-1980s" date alluded to on the X.org site is after 23 June 1985).

  12. What... by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 3, Funny


    no Windows version? How is 90% of the population supposed to play? This game will go nowhere.

  13. UNIXIFIED???? by inkswamp · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Funny to see how the Mac community is slowly but surely becoming UNIXified.

    I thought it was the other way around. Seriously, I'm not trying to start arguments, but with all the talk I've heard about how OS X is the first Unix with a nice interface, I would think that Unix users have become somewhat Mac-ified. I don't hear nearly as much talk from old-time Mac users about how wonderful it is to have a CLI or Perl. I hear more chatter and excitement from the other site about how it's nice to have an interface that works so well. :^)

    Too egocentric either way. Both statements are probably true--Mac users and Unix users have probably moved toward each other.

    --
    --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
    1. Re:UNIXIFIED???? by Alex+Thorpe · · Score: 2

      It's true that Mac users would get more out of Terminal if Apple had provided any instructions on how to use it. I still remember how to use DOS, but I've zero previous experince with a UNIX CLI, and I've only picked up a few commands, like ls and cd. Not enough to do anything. And I don't have the funds for a book on the subject.

      --
      "Common Sense Ain't" -Unknown
  14. way to twist it...MS troll alert by djupedal · · Score: 2

    MS handed over $16 million to Apple as a patent settlement. Think courtroom, not boardroom. It was _not_ an investment. Try again.

    Blasted MS dolt-troll's can't help drinking the koolaid.

    phrggggrrrt!

    [[]]

  15. Re:Oh but it was by SlamMan · · Score: 2

    IF Corel would just put Wordperfect back on the mac, there'd have a lot less MS users in X.

    --
    Mod point free since 2001
  16. And...? by Rui+del-Negro · · Score: 2

    As far as I know, Microsoft does not make or sell any Linux software. Lots of Mac users use Windows boxes too. Your point was...?

    RMN
    ~~~

    1. Re:And...? by Rui+del-Negro · · Score: 2

      You said "saying most Linux users don't use any MS software is complete bull". Since I don't think Microsoft makes any Linux software, I don't think that any Linux user can - while using Linux - run Microsoft software (except under emulation - see below). He may, of course, run Windows on a different machine (or on the same one), just as he may run BeOS or OSX or Solaris. Of these, I think OSX is the only one with native Microsoft software.

      Linux has alternatives to most home / office software (browsers, office suites, media players) and also to most server softare (servers, databases, scripting). It lacks DCC software (video and image editing, music, etc.) and games. Some of these (both games and DCC) can run under emulation, some cannot. I doubt most Linux users use Windows for anything besides serving as the kernel for specific applications. Once you're inside 3D Studio or After Effects or Cakewalk, it's irrelevant what operating system you're using.

      What annoys me about Linux (and many Linux users) is that they're trying to copy Windows, instead of actually coming up with something better. In fact, for the last 7 years or so, Microsoft, Apple and Linux have just been copying each other ad nauseum.

      The natural order of things used to be:

      Xerox or IBM would come up with a new concept (mouse, GUI, windows, etc.). Apple would copy it almost immediately and make it look prettier. Microsoft would copy it two years later and make it look uglier. Linux would try to do the same thing in text mode.

      Xerox and IBM are now pretty much dead (or at least hibernating). Apple just kept making things look prettier and prettier until they arrived at something that looks like a shampoo bottle (I hate the iMac / Aqua look). Microsoft tried to out-Mac Apple and came up with XP, that looks like something out of a committee formed by Macromedia and Chicco. I think it looks even uglier than Aqua. Aqua is for girls, XP is for baby girls. Linux, as usual, is trying to copy both of them (they're not using text mode anymore, which has made it lose that 'retro' appeal).

      Personally, I'm sticking to Windows 2000 Pro. It's stable, it's fast, has tons of software, supports tons of hardware and has a sober, functional interface (especially when you complement it with a few command-line tools). Apart from the OS, the only MS software I use is Visual Studio and Word. As more software is released for Linux (and as Windows emulation under Linux improves), I might consider switching. But I really doubt I'll ever switch to a Mac. If I leave Windows it'll be to get rid of a software monopoly, so I'm not going to plunge into a software and hardware one.

      On the hardware choice / speed / price side of things, x86 wins too, so that's another point against Macs (from my point of view).

      Hopefully, the next version of Windows will introduce something new and useful (a property / database-oriented file system). Something that both Apple and Linux had years to develop and bring to end users but somehow didn't (too busy making anti-aliased icons). Don't get me wrong; I don't like Microsoft. Which is even more depressing when I look at the alternatives.

      RMN
      ~~~