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Interview with Jordan Hubbard About DarwinPorts

Gentu writes "OSNews hosts an interview with Jordan Hubbard (of Apple, OpenDarwin, and FreeBSD fame) where they discuss DarwinPorts and how they compare to Fink. There is also a hint from Jordan that there might be some of the FreeBSD 5.x advancements to be found in Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) that is coming out, reportedly, this autumn."

5 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Apple as a software company by Chocolate+Teapot · · Score: 4, Informative
    Apple have always been a hardware oriented company, and to the best of my knowledge have never claimed anything else. And why would they really care about 'screwing' Linux?

    What I suspect you are really saying is that you would like to run OS X but don't want to to shell out the cash to buy the required hardware. What you fail to realise is that a soon as you take OS X and make it available on the huge variety of Intel-based platforms, it does not "Just Work!" anymore. Any amount of time spent trying to find the right drivers for Linux or Windows will tell you that. There is a lot to be said for having control of the OS and the hardware on which it runs.

    If you want OS X, get a job and get a Mac like the rest of us had to.

    --
    Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
  2. THE ANSWER by feldsteins · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here, for your reading enjoyment, is the text of the last time I responded to this question. (And here is the link.) Please distribute this text/link to every nerd on earth so that we can dispense with this question once and for all.

    The lack of clones is the major problem with Apple? Sure, it keeps prices high and marketshare low. It's true. It is the worst thing about the platform.

    And yet, it is also the one single thing that makes them unique in the market and gives them value. The vertical integration they have (hardware/os/iapps) allows them to a) innovate their product line faster and more radically than some other hardware/software makers and b) allows them to sell an entire end-to-end solution (like firewire-imovie-idvd-superdrive) with a user experience better than anyone elses. These things are at the core of what makes Apple Apple. Take them away - take away the vertical integration by doing clones - and what you get is cheaper boxes and much rejoicing...and a dead/dying platform within 2 years because it has lost that which made it valuable to begin with.

    Bonus point: Why should anyone care? Certainly Mac users should care, but others should, too. Apple has an influence on the personal computer industry that is vastly disproportionate to its marketshare. They innovate. Others follow. Therefore, a healthy Apple is good for the industry. Mac clones = bad for Apple = bad for the pc industry.

    --
    You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
  3. Re:i386 Ports of OS X by Ineffable+27 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's the link to the MacEdition report this guy's talking about:

    http://www.macedition.com/nmr/nmr_20021112.php

    --
    "He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once." - Steve Jobs on Bill Gates
  4. Re:Love FreeBSD by bmetzler · · Score: 5, Informative
    Powerpc processors are crippled compared to athlons or pIV's and yet apple charges a premium for them.

    I guess I haven't noticed the premiums that Apple charges for notebooks. I'm looking to purchase a notebook, and am trying to decide if I shuld go iBook or not. Everyone tells me that Apple is more expensive, but for their notebooks I don't see that. Similarily configured notebooks from Apple, as far as I can tell are ~$300 LESS then notebooks from Dell or Compaq.

    -Brent
  5. Re:Hubbard by christurkel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Jordan Hubbard is very much involved in FreeBSD. He is not the leeader but he is a core developer with CVS write access. His involvement with Mac OS X and FreeBSD helps both in ways that are invisible (most of the time) to the end user.

    --

    CDE open sourced! https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/