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Apple Releases Darwin 6.7, 6.8
PowerMacDaddy writes "In an ongoing effort to keep the FreeBSD core of OS X open source, Apple has updated Darwin to 6.7 and 6.8, which corresponds to the OS X 10.2.7 and 10.2.8 updates, respectively. Source code is available."
Is Knoppix better than Redhat?
I think the question should be more about what you need rather than which is better.
Altp.
Is Darwin better than *BSD?
No. It's just a little different. It uses a different kernel. It has a different architecture for device drivers. It uses a NetInfo to store various configuration information.
It doesn't have FreeBSD Ports (a simple way for users and administrators to install applications). It's got it's own thing instead, which isn't as good (yet).
The reason I'd use BSD is for FreeBSD Ports, so I think the folks using Darwin are mostly just doing it since no one else is, and it's geeky.
It also makes sense if you're primarily interested in administering a MacOS X network, but I don't see why you wouldn't spend the cash on Mac OS X Server.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
But, will your ethernet stop working if you use it?
/* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
Perhaps they are trying to get the public to fix the 10.2.8 problems that led them to pulling the upgrade :)
The recent botched 10.2.8 updated included a kernel upgrade, from Darwin 6.6 to Darwin 6.8. So while the news here is that the kernel update is, apparently, available as an independent download, the question remains whether or not this kernel release had anything to do with the problems people are having with 10.2.8.
Obviously there have been questions about the updated ethernet drivers, but because so many things changed with the 10.2.8 release, and because the bug reports have been so varied, it's hard to know if the new kernel is buggy, and it's easy to suspect that the ethernet driver may not have been the only component at fault.
It's nice to see that Slashdot has picked up a story that MacSlash ran a day or two ago, but I for one am more interested in hearing about a fix for the damage that 10.2.8 brought with it for many people. When are we going to get a patch for that?
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
It uses lookupd, which uses a set of software "agents" to get informations. There are agents for NetInfo, NIS, DNS, the files in /etc (Flatfiles), LDAP and internal cache agent.
NetInfo is usually the first place to look for things(after the cache..)
(if i understand this correctly)
I've already checked out the source and updated to the new kernel and it seems to run fine (I wanted to apply the nosleep patch on the KisMac web page so that I can run it with the lid closed for short periods of time). Of course, I have an iBook, so I'm probably not affected by the ethernet problem screwing up some of the other models. I'm happy that nothing like Cisco VPN magically became broken in this release also.
Darwin 6.8 sequesters all available computing power and peripherals, sets fire to your house, kills you and you family, and on certain machines disables the ethernet port. Users in Soviet Russia, however, appear to be afflicted with amusing juxtapositions of the aforementioned flaws.
It makes sense if you have an old PC lying around...
> So, when they don't update it, it would become closed somehow? I don't get it.
When they don't update darwin to match the updates in MacOS X, the FreeBSD core of (the current release of) MacOS X isn't open source.
Even for an annoying nitpicker like me, that was a perfectly reasonable sentence.
-fred
Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
Just so you're aware -- which you're apparently not -- Apple is a section of Slash. apple.slashdot.org. Therefore, here, you'll read a lot about Apple - something you don't seem too interested in.
It's very newsworthy among the Unix/apple community that Darwin's been changed.
If you're interested in Domino and ORacle AS, there are appropriate places to go for that.
Thanks.
The next comment I write will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
BSD Ports for Mac OS X (and Darwin) can be found here: http://www.opendarwin.org/projects/darwinports/
That might be because you have to compile it first, using a compiler that will work with PowerPC code (easiest way, of course, is to compile on a mac). *coughdoltcough*