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Mac OS X Leopard is Now Officially Unix

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the thank-god-now-cat-will-work dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Mac OS X Leopard is now officially Unix, according to the Opengroup." I know everyone out there was really worried about this one. Welcome to the August news vacuum!

20 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. I think its a major achievement by DogcowX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There aren't many members of that club (IBM, HP, Sun)

    1. Re:I think its a major achievement by nightcats · · Score: 5, Funny

      If The Open Group is "making standards work" (TM), then who is Making Work Standard? These are the really big questions that we have long meetings about here in corporate America. These are the things you contemplate when you've finished your third cup of jove and are sitting on the porcelain throne, thinking about death...

      --
      Development is programmable; Discovery is not programmable. (Fuller)
    2. Re:I think its a major achievement by krgallagher · · Score: 5, Interesting
      "There aren't many members of that club (IBM, HP, Sun)"

      Yeah that was my reaction. I checked on the site to see the list of other certified OS'. Here it is:

      • Apple Inc.: Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard on Intel-based Macintosh computers
      • Fujitsu Limited: Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System on Fujitsu PRIMEPOWER® 64-bit SPARC® Based Platforms
      • Hewlett-Packard Company: HP-UX 11i V3 Release B.11.31 or later on HP Integrity Servers
      • IBM Corporation: AIX 5L for POWER V5.3 dated 7-2006 or later
      • IBM Corporation: AIX 5L for POWER V5.2 dated 8-2004 or later with APARs: IY59610, IY60869, IY61405 with VAC 6.0.0.8 or later on pSeries CHRP systems
      • Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Solaris 10 Operating System plus patch 118844-06 for X86 and on, on 64-bit X86 based systems
      • Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Solaris 10 Operating System and on, on 32-bit X86 based systems
      • Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Solaris 10 Operating System and on, on 32-bit and 64-bit SPARC based systems
      There is no Linux. The only BSD up there is OS X. Apparently even Unix isn't Unix. It looks to me like 'THE Open GROUP' is a PR firm for Sun and IBM.
      --

      Insert Generic Sig Here:

    3. Re:I think its a major achievement by ericrost · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Linux isn't UNIX for cost reasons. UNIX is a copyrighted compatibility certification. It costs a lot of money to get that moniker, and it really doesn't mean anything in these days of Linux and BSD.

      Linux is Linux, it doesn't NEED to be UNIX.

      --
      My Babylon
    4. Re:I think its a major achievement by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative
      Part of the problem with this certification is that it needs to be renewed for each version. For Linux, it's not feasible, because it certifies entire operating systems, rather than kernels. The Single UNIX Specification covers a few basic devices, a huge number of C APIs and a set of useland tools (e.g. shell, C compiler, etc). Linux implements a page or two of the spec, and system calls that allow glibc to implement a load more. The GNU tools implement a lot more beyond that.

      A distribution of Linux could apply for certification, but the certification would only be valid for the exact version; update the kernel, any of the GNU utilities, etc, and it would stop being UNIX(TM) (although, for PR purposes, if FooLinux 10 is UNIX, then people probably won't care that FooLinux 10.0.1 hasn't been certified).

      The certification is more than just PR, however. Any product that has the certification is guaranteed to comply with the SUS spec. This means any software written to the specification will work. I'm glad OS X is getting it, since there are a few gaps in the implementation on 10.4 that should have been plugged before they got this. I've written code to the SUS spec before, and had it work flawlessly on Solaris but have minor issues on FreeBSD, Linux, and OS X. The more operating systems that conform to SUS, the easier it is to write cross-platform code. Whether they get the certification is irrelevant, to a degree.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    5. Re:I think its a major achievement by daem0n1x · · Score: 5, Funny

      If The Open Group is "making standards work" (TM), then who is Making Work Standard?

      Well, Soviet Russia, of course!

  2. I know this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    this is unix!

    1. Re:I know this... by Code+Master · · Score: 5, Funny
      It is a well kept secret that the new Finder of Leopard will have a 3D interface that is navigated by flying through an oil refinery like layout of 3D block buildings...

      Linux has no hope, because this is UNIX...

      --
      The Code Master
  3. It passed the certification by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Open Group's trademark-protected Unix certification program determines who gets to call themselves 'UNIX'. Just because an OS is derived from the original Unix sources at some point doesn't make it a 'UNIX'. You get to call it a 'UNIX' if it passes the Open Group's tests, which determine if it meets the specifications. In this case, Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard', only when running on Intel Macs, not PPC Macs or any other box was found to meet the UNIX 03 specification.

    --
    My blog
  4. Saints preserve us by pzs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean that turtle neck wearing goatie bearded design weenies will start calling themselves Unix geeks?

    Peter

  5. Correct answers by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    Was Tiger (10.4) certified?


    No.

    Did Apple even try to certify Tiger?


    No.

    Why (not)? If not then why start now with Leopard?


    Well, if you want certification, you gotta start sometime. I seem to remember the Open Group getting into a little tussle with Apple over Apple's use of the UNIX trademark in its advertisements. The Open Group owns the name UNIX, so you don't get it to call it UNIX unless the Open Group says so. I think this may be part of the arrangement they entered into....

    Anyway, the process is expensive. So expensive that none of the *BSDs are certified, no Linux, of course, is certified (yes, a Linux distro could be), etc.

    The members of the UNIX club are few: IBM, HP, Sun, NEC, The SCO Group, and a few others.
    --
    My blog
  6. Re:GNU incompatability by KH · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you forget that GNU is Not Unix?

  7. Re:No Linux? by danbert8 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean Linux doesn't stand for "Linux Is Not Unix"?

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  8. Re:No Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think you mean "Linux Is Not Unix, Xavier", as uttered by RMS in the confusing GPLv2-vs.-X-Men crossover

  9. Re:Doesn't make me want to buy an Apple any more by Professor_UNIX · · Score: 5, Funny

    I look at all the people coming out of the Apple store when I walk around town during lunch & those people REALLY DON'T CARE, that's for sure, they look like they're in a trance coming out of that store...
    Well, if they're anything like me they're probably just contemplating whether or not they can pay off their credit card bill next month after buying a MacBook Pro and AppleCare coverage. "Hmm, if I only make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the family I might be able to pay for half of the MacBook Pro this month and half next month... Oh shit, I should really just take it back... oh man, but I'd have to pay a $250 restocking fee... shit. I'm just going to go home and play with it and maybe I'll feel better about my purchase even though my 15" Powerbook was working perfectly fine and was only 2 years old."

    At least, that was what was going through my head when my eyes were glossed over and I was trudging to the car with my shiny 15" MacBook Pro in my hand. But hey, can I really call myself an American if I don't have several thousand dollars worth of credit card debt spent on totally expendable consumer electronic devices? I don't think so!

  10. Re:OS X was finally my opportunity to learn UNIX by dbzero · · Score: 5, Funny

    First rule of unix, never tell anyone you use pico. Second rule of unix, NEVER TELL ANYONE YOU USE PICO! ...

  11. GNU by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's right there in the name. GNU's Not Unix.

    Stallman's head would probably explode if they certified a GNU/Linux system as Unix!

    hmmm....

    --
    A house divided against itself cannot stand.
  12. Linux, BSD and Unix certification by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Linux isn't UNIX for cost reasons. UNIX is a copyrighted compatibility certification. It costs a lot of money to get that moniker, and it really doesn't mean anything in these days of Linux and BSD.

    Linux is Linux, it doesn't NEED to be UNIX. A Unix certification is a bit more than a moniker. It means that the level of software portability between Unix 03 compliant systems is guaranteed to be very high. That may not be important to you but to companies/corporations seeking to reduce costs and development times and to achieve the maximum level of reliability and portability in their business critical software a Unix 03 certification has meaning. Also keep in mind that although no linux or BSD flavor other than OS X has gone for actual certification apparently many Linux distributions for example still make sure they are more or less Unix compliant and they do it using Open Group test suites. So even if no Linux distro has officially applied for certification it looks to me as if they are keeping their options open.
    --
    Only to idiots, are orders laws.
    -- Henning von Tresckow
  13. Re:GNU by MrNiceguy_KS · · Score: 5, Funny

    Think of the mess! There'd be beard EVERYWHERE!

    --
    Redundancy is good And also good.
  14. Re:How expensive is it? by YourMotherCalled · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...ranging from $40.000 or so and up to $500.000... $40 to $500 (with an extra digit of precision on the cents thrown in for good measure) doesn't seem too bad. Those companies should be able to afford that easily!