NetBSD's COMPAT_DARWIN Adds XDarwin Support

Dan writes "NetBSD's Emmanual Dreyfus says that COMPAT_DARWIN is now able to run Mac OS X's XDarwin (this is, the X Window server for Darwin). The server is fully functional: display, keyboard and mouse work. He says that running Darwin has no interest in itself, but having it working ensures that NetBSD's IOKit (1) emulation is good enough to be used. Darwin is Apple's Mac OS X core. A fully functional Darwin binary compatibility on NetBSD/powerpc & NetBSD/i386 will imply getting MacOS X libraries to run any Mac OS X program, just like NetBSD is now able to run binaries from Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and many other OSes."

Comments

Next stop, Quartz... then Aqua

[corebreech]

It's ironic that right after the story Technology Spending On The Rise, we get a story about how to run Apple software under a free OS.

Or is that, iconic?

Re:Next stop, Quartz... then Aqua

[Jade E. 2]

I had specifically told it what drive to install itself on and it instead installed on a different drive, wiping out my MacOS 9 partition, but I don't hold a grudge about that

Don't hold a grudge? Hell, that sounds to me like a feature.

Re:It is Official

[bersl2]

Dear family, friends, and associates of Anonymous Coward:

I regret to inform you that recently Mr. Coward has fallen ill with an unknown affliction, whose diverse symptoms include nausea, bleeding orifices, and trolling. In fact, the doctors have recently confirmed it: Anonymous Coward is dying.

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bersl2

Re:ah, so THAT's the point! (RTFA):

[JamieF]

Exactly, because Everybody Knows that microkernels are slow.

(Does it count as a troll if you're serious?)

Wait, let me see if I can connect some of them...

Microkernels being slow are the reason Macs are so much slower than PC's! And if Apple would just:
(a) port to x86
(b) drop the microkernel in favor of Linux
(c) allow clones
(d) run Windows apps
(e) use Windows drivers
(f) eliminate their greedy 75% profit margins
... then Macs would take over the world!

Hey, this is fun!

Do you ever just read a headline like this....

[caitsith01]

and wonder if you could be doing something more with your life?

"NetBSD's COMPAT_DARWIN Adds XDarwin Support" What the fuck is that? It's not even vaguely english. Probably the majority of people who know what it means are reading this site right now.

Reminds me of (what else) The Simpsons:

Comic Book Guy [reading comic]: "No aquaman... you cannot marry a woman without gills! You're from two different worlds!"

[looks up to see a nuclear warhead streaking towards him]

"Oh, I've wasted my life."

[kabooooom!]

Re:some posts here are crazy..

[Anonymous Coward]

kinda like running darwin on an i386.. no real point

Um, I use Darwin on an x86 as my primary firewall and work machine. You might be surprised to learn that unix does not necessarily require a goofy gnome foot dropping cores on your desktop every few seconds.

There's no real point in running a GUI, just real slow.

Re:ah, so THAT's the point! (RTFA):

[Temporal]

Don't forget, BeOS used a microkernel, and we all know how slow it was. It took almost 15 seconds to boot! I couldn't stand it. I remember how I used to play video games on my game boy to keep me entertained while I waited. And don't get me started on how it could only run Quake 2 25%-50% faster than any other OS. I mean, really, it was unplayable at such speeds. No wonder Be went out of business.

Linus says microkernels suck. I think we should all place our blind faith in whatever he says. So, next time someone comes around offering you a shiney new microkernel, remember to just say "no".

Re:ah, so THAT's the point! (RTFA):

[line.at.infinity]

Microkernels being slow are the reason Macs are so much slower than PC's!

My PC runs a microkernel OS (Windows 2000), but I didn't notice any slow-downs when I switched from Windows 98.

Re:ah, so THAT's the point! (RTFA):

[larkost]

I don't think you can call it a MicroKernel when your web browser lives in kernel space....