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Mac OS X Kernel Source Now Closed
littleghoti writes "Macworld is reporting that "Thanks to pirates, or rather the fear of them, the Intel edition of Apple's OS X is now a proprietary operating system."
Mac developers and power users no longer have the freedom to alter, rebuild, and replace the OS X kernel from source code."
Pirates: Arrrrr! We'll be havin' your operating system now matey...
Because as we all know, closed source software prevents piracy!
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
And this had to happen the very same day i was planning to alter, rebuild, and replace the OS X kernel from source code, oh well..
//WR
I have, the SCO Group, Inc.
Or, as rewritten by Apple marketing for your black turtleneck wearing, latte-sipping Mac hipsters out there:
Apple is proud to announce QuickKernelTM, the completely revamped heart of Mac OS X. With patented, proprietaty innovations optimised for the high performance IntelTM Dual CoreTM architecture, QuickKernel is offered as an exlusive benefit to new Apple customers. Buy an Intel-based Macintosh today, and we'll throw in QuickKernelTM for free!
"We are excited to announce that we're making QuickKernelTM retroactively available to anyone who bought an Intel-based Mac within the past five years," CEO Steve Jobs said. "But act fast -- this free offer will not last long. We estimate QuickKernel adds at least $199 in raw speed enhancement to every Macintosh sold."
QuickKernel further boosts speed with its ClosedSourceTM architecture, which prevents performance hiccups caused by "credits," "comments" and "disclaimers" typically added to the "source code" of the open source kernel typically used to repair WindowsTM PCs. ClosedSource is delivered in a highly optimized UberBinaryTM format that is many times faster than the uncompiled source code delivered by "open source" operating system vendors.
"QuickKernel is the fastest way to deliver content to your iPod, greatly accelerating MP3 playback," Jobs said. "It also keeps your black shirt from fading in the wash, disappears scratches from your U2 EditionTM iPod and enhances the graphics on your Ruby on Rails blog."
Oh, well there you go. Who needs the kernel or drivers?
So, you're new here?
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Now those five people will have nothing to do on friday night. Mind you that's just the few that actually care about the latest and greatest out of Apple, the other 15 or 20 will just keep mucking about with what they have.
b/c if they left the source open you'd begin to see all of the hooks they were building into the kernel... hooks that will eventually be used to allow the Windows Vista kernel to be dropped into place.
Apparently, neither do the millions of people buying iPods...
Just junk food for thought...
I haven't tested it, since I lack an ICBM,
Thank God for that! The world is a safer place, since you don't have an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
Not sure what this has to do w/ x86 testing, though...
They're not buying iPods, they're buying conveniently packaged iPod firmware ! ;-p
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
Hey, you found John Dvorak's stash! Don't bogart it, pass it around and let everybody else take a hit off it!
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
The reality of the situation is that Apple did not only appropriate the Win API, but they also appropriated the Windows NT kernel. They've been stripping out the Windows-specific hacks, grafting on some of their lessons-learned from Darwin x86, and created a new kernel for OS X. That's why the source is now closed: because it contains substantial portions of NT kernel source.
First the move to Intel, now leveraging that move to take advantage of the technically superior NT kernel (unfortunately weighed down by Microsoft bloat normally, it will now be freed to flourish under a lickable interface). XNU was useful for the initial transition, but is being abandoned for performance concerns.
They really ought to give me my own column. I can out-moonbat both Cringely and Dvorak.
The Rise and Fall of Online Community
So, is this why Goto is considered harmful?
[rimshot]
Sean
"Thanks to pirates, or rather the fear of them, the Intel edition of Apple's OS X is now a proprietary operating system."
.. Right..?
Apple's first attempt at comedy of epic scales. Let me rehash that one:
"Thanks to terrorists, or rather the fear of them, now NSA spies your phone calls".
Excuses, excuses...
By the way, let's hope closing the source will help, just like it helps Microsoft with Windows - noone is pirating or hacking Windows, right?