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Linux Gurus and OpenStep gurus collaborate

Anonymous Coward writes "www.DarwinLinux.com is a collaboration between the team at Infomagic (Linux gurus), and the team at TwinForces (WebObjects/OpenStep gurus). The goal is to create a complete distribution on a CD. Incidently, Apple will sync Darwin (Apple's BSD core under OS X) with FreeBSD later this year. "

103 comments

  1. Re:That's NETBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Any idea where I can find more info on this? I currently use FreeBSD and NetBSD/alpha and wouldn't mind messing with Darwin.
    Is there a similar make world process to FreeBSD?
    I presume Darwin comes with a MacOS-like GUI, is there any sort of X comapt layer at all?

    -Matt

  2. Why NETBSD? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The TCP stack in NetBSD is pretty good, but what about the userland stuff? Why did they choose NetBSD over FreeBSD or OpenBSD?

    1. Re:Why NETBSD? by perry · · Score: 1

      Maybe they thought the userland was good. I tend to think so, but I'm biased.

  3. Re:That's NETBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    1. HFS for NetBSD? Hard, easy, easy-but-for-licensing?
    2. Any plans for a COMPAT_MACOSX in NetBSD? Would be nice to actually be able to run MacOS X stuff on the box that the lying marketing-scum at the top of Apple promised would be supported.
  4. Re:Linux has nothing to do with Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And "Linux" is not an operating system. It is just the kernel, GNU and BSD utilities make up the bulk of the system yet they get zero mention, outside of the people at Debian. You should be thankfull, they are giving you extra publicity, rather than hog it for themselves like much of the Linux comunity.

    A noteable exception being Debian, which is a real class act.

  5. Why they'll never touch x86 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple is 90% hardware company, releasing an OS for x86 would be as stupid as well going back to cisc processors or cancelling OS X and continue develop copeland. They'll never do it, ever. Apple ain't microsoft they make cool hardware and luser OSes for that hardware...

  6. Re:What does "sync" mean? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    could it be that some folks at Apple thought that FreeBSD userland, or whatever, is THE BEST, and THE BEST is what WILL BE integrated? Hmm.

    I guess that folks at Apple did not look, try or compare all source files of OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD. Wrong?

    Question to folks that work on any of the BSD Lite projects. Did any people at Apple actually submit any patches back officially as in mailing list?

  7. Re:okay, but what about OpenStep? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't work at Apple Computer so my comment is not the answer to the question >8P

    I'd really like OpenStep for open unices. Not just Mac OS and Windows - quickytime frame..

    Does Apple Computer not work on existing ports and submit their patches for all to see? Any of this happen? For instance, why not support that GNUstep Apple Computer? Until some people at Apple make up their mind, I will not buy a new Apple Computer.

    http://www.gnustep.org

  8. Reason for the name part II by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, and the name of the actual CD that they'll ship *is* "The Missing Link". The product itself is not called Linux-anything, so the flames above and below about a Mach-BSD system being called Linux are misinformed. (Didn't bother to actually look at the site, I suppose).

  9. How can you tell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe they DO plan to port parts of the Linux kernel to Darwin. Would the (L)GPL allow this?

    1. Re:How can you tell? by jmalicki · · Score: 1

      The LGPL might, I'm not sure, but the kernel is under the GPL.

  10. Please get a clue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    We have these things already, they are mature and we like them.

    Then don't use it! You have no business telling other people not to "waste their time". Can't you see that this CD may become a huge success once Mac OS X client ships? It will be an easy way to add all the Unix stuff to Mac OS X that Apple didn't bundle with the OS. This is a much bigger market opportunity than just releasing YET ANOTHER LINUX DISTRO.

  11. Re:It's bad enough ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone knows already that the Slashdot kids are a bunch of drooling idiots.
    Slashdot kids != Open Source enthusiasts.

  12. Re:It's bad enough ... (not Apple's project) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You seem to suggest that Apple has cynically called this site darwinlinux.com in order to cash in on Linux.

    As far as I know this site is not affiliated with Apple so you can't pin that on them.

    Furthermore, the reason that linux crops up in the name of the project is because the project is all about incorporating standard linux utilities into the Darwin system.

    What's the problem?

  13. What about linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not to whine, but this is a story about a *nix that runs on ppc, but still no mention of the new PPC Reference Release. Why not? There are already at least two distributions based on it. Doesn't that make it at least two times as newsworthy as this?? I just don't understand why the PPC DRR hasn't been had a story on slashdot yet.
    Press Release for PPC DRR 1.0

  14. darwin support on non PowerPC architectures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is now ;=>

    unfortunately I sold my 7500 powermac :-/

    I hear that darwin - originally from Apple - is not expected to run on the PowerPC architecture only, so if someone who registered www forms, download any source and compiled on non PowerPC would comment whether compiling on alpha, sparc, x86, arm need work or not?

  15. Why you're wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What makes a good OS?
    To me, it's one that doesn't crash too much,
    has an intuitive easy-to-use interface,
    and lets me get my work done.
    If I have to, I'm willing to pay a few bucks for that because my productivity will make up for it. Right now, Linux or any BSD just isn't a good desktop OS for the user concerned with productivity. I personally like my MacOS system. Would it be nice if Apple GPL'd it? yes. But until free (bsdl or gpl) OSs allow me to be as productive as on MacOS, forget about it (other than servers, for which I usually use BSDs).
    Apple isn't "the enemy." They're a HW/software company. If their stuff works for you, buy it.

  16. Re:It's bad enough ... (not Apple's project) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One more time Bubba: The site is called darwinlinux because it's a collaboration between Darwin and Linux developers. The product is called "The missing link".
    Any more questions? Don't hesitate to ask.

  17. This guy gets positive score - but he's clueless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... that people tend to refer to a GNU system with a Linux kernel as ``Linux'', but it's even worse when people refer to a BSD system with a BSD/Mach kernel as ``DarwinLinux''. This is the best evidence of seen yet that Apple is willing to do anything to ride on the coattails of GNU

    Nobody at Apple or the DarwinLinux website (which is independent of Apple!) called Darwin a Linux OS! Please, read the articles, dammit! Otherwise you are just a lackwit making posts!

    I suspect that the name "Linux" in DarwinLinux comes from the developer model that Linux benefits by... No harm in doing that.

    And don't call Apple/Sun et al EVIL. With these guys people like my mom couldn't use computers!

    Grow up, would ya?

  18. What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's the point of an OS from Apple if it doesn't have apple's GUI? I'm not excited about Darwin either, being that I already use FreeBSD right now, and Darwin seems like a way Apple can exploit the open source coders for profit. If Apple released their GUI, I'd feel totally different . . .

    1. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what's the point of FreeBSD? OpenBSD? NetBSD? Darwin is an Open Source OS. It belongs to you and me just like the other *BSDs. The license is slightly different (viral, in a benign way) but nothing prevents you from modifying it, porting it to another platform or selling it. Darwin is here to stay. Maybe it might help you to regard Apple as just another contributor to an Open Source project.

      BTW, why would you feel different if they released the GUI code as well? How would that affect the license? Is Darwin less free without the GUI?

    2. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd feel different w/ the GUI because w/ the GUI is would make the OS different enough from the other BSD's to have major selling point. Each of the *BSD's have their selling points, and Darwin uses stuff from all of them while at the same time using a microkernel, but that's no enough for me to jump for joy. Having the GUI gives it a good selling point for people who want the Mac style GUI. My point is that Apple's Macintosh OSes best point was the ease of use (ever since they took a tip from Xerox PARC), and to have an apple macintosh type OS w/o it's GUI isn't really a Macintosh OS.

    3. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WEll, I'll wait until there's some different type of GUI on it, not the vanilla X Windows and a window manager (I have that now). Since i'm not a very good coder, I have to wait until somebody makes a new standard GUI for local displays (I not one to need to export a graphical display over network to another computer).

      It's true though, Mac OS UI hasn't changed much, and I really don't like mac's UI, I think win9x and winNT4 interfaces are better, but they don't have multiple workspaces as part of the base OS (have to get a shell replacement like litestep).
      But, I have a question:
      What is the NeXT/OpenSTEP UI like? Is it exactly like AfterStep or WindowMaker or Blackbox? I don't like Afterstep or WindowMaker much, the dock takes too much space on my small monitor and switching windows isn't very intuitive. Blackbox has an acceptable mechanism, but I still like the taskbar of a windows 9x style (maybe I just been using windows too long).

    4. Re:What's the point? by WillAdams · · Score: 1

      The point is it's a real OS, unlike the Mac OS. Even 8.6 crashes pathetically regularly.

      Moreover, the Mac UI hasn't grown up much since 1984 and is still oriented towards single application use on a single monitor with no way to move an application widgets in their entirety to a specific area of the screen. There was a quote from Jobs on this in the Sept. 1995 Byte, "The Macintosh has been dead in the water since 1985 in terms of its user interface."

      NeXT/OPENstep does much better in this regard, and I really hope that this group follows their UI cues and improves upon them.

      William

      http://members.aol.com/willadams

      --
      Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
    5. Re:What's the point? by WillAdams · · Score: 1

      The NeXT/OPENstep UI is much more than merely the Dock.

      This has been discussed at length in comp.sys.next.advocacy and I'd urge you to read there (try ) and to try out a NeXT machine.

      William

      --
      Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
  19. not linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not enough reason to put linux in the name.

    It is a pretty clear effort to ride coattails.

    What next?

  20. Apple stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A bunch of code under APSL is just not very useful outside of the Apple world.

    This is less useful than a BSD variant.

    It still remains -- why is Linux in the name at all except to grab publicity/cause confusion?

  21. Just like Apple's ASICS, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... serial controllers, etc. Makes OS ports more difficult than they ought to be.

    Apple does with its hardware exactly what Microsoft would do if it designed/manufactured hardware.

    Any company that controls both the hardware AND the OS that it runs on is terribly suspect. Notice there aren't any third-party vendors for MacOS hardware?

    Similarly, notice that there are no PA-RISC/SPARC/x86 ports of MacOS X (which is essentially a progression of NEXTSTEP 3/4, which was ported to the aforementioned platforms)?

    Just my $0.02...

    1. Re:Just like Apple's ASICS, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many ports do you want them to make. Ideally, they have to ship a _finished_ product at some point soon. Making ports all sorts of nonessential hardware is the last thing they need to be doing NOW.

      Aren't you forgetting about existing NEXTSTEP SPARC/PA-RISC/x86 users as well? I suppose they don't count... after all, I can just dump my Sparcstation and purchase a brand-new G3, Apple's panacea for everything (I've since dumped NEXTSTEP and reloaded SunOS4 on my Sparc).

      Yes, Apple is totally suspect for making both hardware and SW. It's horrible how I never have to deal with device drivers and have never had a hardware incompatibility problem.

      Running MacOS or MacOS X Server, of course... Let the *BSD and Linux users figure out the hardware on their own.

      It's also really bad that my OS is optimized for the chip and technologies that I'm running it on. God, how awful!

      No, that's awfully nice. However, it would be even nicer if Apple would refrain from using proprietary undocumented ASICS or at least share the specifications to *help* facilitate ports, as Sun (SPARC/UltraSPARC) and Digital (Alpha) have...

      After all, a broad choice of software to run on your hardware is a *good* thing and can only boost value, longevity and subsequent sales of hardware. Unless Apple doesn't want to expand their hardware sales, of course.

      ~AC

    2. Re:Just like Apple's ASICS, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Actually, Apple seems to be moving away from proprietary ASICs wherever possible in new designs. For example, they use a VIA USB controller in the latest G3 Macs. However, it is not possible to use "off the shelf" parts like this in every situation - for example, the PowerPC local bus is significantly different than a Pentium local bus so they couldn't use an Intel core logic ASIC. In fact, this is an area where they are currently a little bit behind - they are using the Motorola Grackle which is local to single PCI bus where as the current generation of Intel chipsets are local to dual PCI (eg PCI and AGP). Its rumored that Apple is working on a new core logic ASIC to get concurrent (dual) PCI busses for their next generation of machines.

      Anyway - I'm drifting off topic here. About the Intel/other architecture support. I just realized myself that the reason for dropping support for other platforms probably "at this point" has just as much to do with moving to Mach 3.x and a new driver model as to wanting to support only Apple hardware. In other words, people always make the comment that OS X is based on NeXTStep/OpenStep and because of this they get x86 support for free. But in actuality they do not - because they are moving to a new version of the Mach kernel and to a new driver model, all the old x86 drivers would need to be significantly rewritten. It makes sense that their priority would be to get all this working on their own hardware first. Then make a decision as to support for other platforms.

      My $0.02

    3. Re:Just like Apple's ASICS, by grossdog · · Score: 1

      How many ports do you want them to make. Ideally, they have to ship a _finished_ product at some point soon. Making ports all sorts of nonessential hardware is the last thing they need to be doing NOW.

      Yes, Apple is totally suspect for making both hardware and SW. It's horrible how I never have to deal with device drivers and have never had a hardware incompatibility problem. It's also really bad that my OS is optimized for the chip and technologies that I'm running it on. God, how awful!

      --Andrew Grossman
      grossdog@dartmouth.edu

  22. Re:Ummm. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In some ways it would be nice to think that Apple would release an x86 version of OSX. It would certainly open the market to a much wider audience.

    There is only one problem. Apple makes the largest portion of its income from hardware sales, as we saw when the clones came out. Without the hardware sales, the software development department would be starved for funds, something that would certainly happen if an x86 version was released.

    There is also one other reason not to change, the RISC based processor. Why run OSX on something half as fast as a G3:-)

  23. Bad Name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It IS a bad name of the project. The namesake of the "Linux Operating System" is totally absent from Darwin, and that would be Linus' kernel. What do you think Stallman wants to call it GNU/Linux? Because the tools that are required for a running system are GNU. Also, I heard an old linux distro was actually called Linux/GNU/X, an even more accurate name. How can you really call it linux w/o a linux kernel?

    It seems to make more sense to use BSD versions of the tools since the whole thing is mach/BSD based, and having the GNU versions as options (since they add neato features).

    1. Re:Bad Name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The project is called the "the Missing Link" the website is called Darwin-Linux.

    2. Re:Bad Name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why use the linux name in the web site for a project called "the missing link"?

  24. SMP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does Darwin support SMP?

    Reason I ask is because it is microkernel based, which I heard makes it easier to program scalability across multiple processors (BeOS uses a microkernel for example, and GNU/Hurd is also based on Mach). Current free OSes do OKAY w/ SMP, but they need alot to be as scalable as Solaris or as slick as BeOS.

  25. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Reporters supposed to get the facts straight? Heh. In what century?
    The twentieth. When Woodward and Bernstein dropped the ball during their investigation of Watergate and allowed inaccurate information to be published, they offered to resign over it. Their editor turned down that offer, but if he'd accepted then they'd have been on the street because they didn't get the facts.

    Times were before you reported something you got it from two independent sources. Now you get a rumor that some other news source has a rumor quoting an anonymous source. You can thank Matt Drudge for that.

  26. Re:It's bad enough ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The GNU licence is no more free than the APSL licence.
    It is a non-propriatary opensource licence.
    The BSD and MIT licences are free.

  27. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Only if we're not illiterate.

    Sections 11 and 12 of the General Public License are very enlightening reading.

  28. Oh, I don't know ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    [Hemos] has started more flame wars over his f**king ignorance than any other contributor to /.

    Oh, I don't know about that--I think Sengan Baring-Gould holds the Slashdot FlameKing title, don't you? And it seems he's moved on to other pastures. Probably gone over to Jugoslavia to help the Serbs fight NATO.

  29. Re:That's NETBSD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wilfredo works for Apple now? Wow - I didn't know
    that. I remember him from MIT, he was a whiz at computers. *Grumble* now I wanna go to usenix.
    Ah well, no money :(.

  30. Dissing CMU Mach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
    Damnit Hemos, you are doing your best to piss off those of us who at CMU slaved over Mach till we were shitting it in our dreams.

    Please, please stop making your errors of ignorance.

    FACT: Mac OS X core is based on CMU Mach.

    Why can't you figure that out?

    And while you are at it figure this--Mac OS X supports an API that is based on NetBSD, but the guts of Mac OS X are very, very different from NetBSD. Please get your G*D damn facts straight.

    We all would be better off if Hemos tried to get his f**king facts straight. He has started more flame wars over his f**king ignorance than any other contributor to /.

    1. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
      I dont know so many of the CMU computer people are illiterate but it is all too often the case. Hemos said the BSD Core, NOT the micro kernel core, would be based on FreeBSD. OS X is a Mach micro kernel with a BSD Box to run apps in. This BSD box is currently based on NetBSD but will (according to Apple) be brought in line with the FreeBSD source.

      CMU has some awesome code that never gets adopted. Why? Because the people who wrote it have ego's the size of Mars and because they are about as polite as famished pitbulls.

    2. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by perry · · Score: 2

      It is quite true -- most of the kernel of OS X comes from Mach (although as I noted the networking code has been taken from NetBSD, has has the userland). However, accuracy is rarely /.'s strongpoint. Reporters are supposed to always make sure they get the details right, but unfortunately, /. often skimps a bit too much in this regard. Fact checking would help a lot.

    3. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by Raindog · · Score: 2

      hey, I think you can be more assine about this than you are being....come on, express your opinion....dont hold back.

      really, you just managed to make yourself look like a real prick...people make mistakes, deal...its a free site that makes no claims of accuracy

    4. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by Rombuu · · Score: 1

      Are we also to assume that free software makes no claims of accuracy?

      --

      DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
    5. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by Znork · · Score: 1

      Reporters supposed to get the facts straight? Heh. In what century? Facts and reality dont sell. Checking takes time and is expensive. To get a profit generating media company you make sure the journalists agitate, ignore the facts, and preferably make up their own stories that sell better.

    6. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by I+R+A+Aggie · · Score: 1

      > Are we also to assume that free software makes no claims of accuracy?

      Right-o. But then again, neither does Microsoft. Read their MULA if you don't think so...

    7. Re:Dissing CMU Mach by KillerBees · · Score: 1

      Yes. it may, but in the BSD session at WWDC Apple did say they will be synching with FreeBSD 3.x in the BSD support layer

  31. What does "sync" mean? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    When he says it will be "synced" with FreeBSD, what does that mean? What is the purpose?

    Thank you.

  32. uh, isn't that the point of darwinlinux.com? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    darwin comes with no GUI, no X, no nothing. It's just one console(no virtual as far as I know).

    that seems to be the point of darwinlinux.com: add what's missing (which i guess is about everything ?) to make something useful.

    it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide

  33. Re:Warning flame content must be 21 to enter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Actually I take a slightly different view...I think it's pretty cool they're using BSD code.
    I don't see any real loser in this collaboration, the NetBSD folks are getting fixes back for their tree, and the MacOS folks are getting some solid kernel code for their stuff. *AND*, they're getting the right to point at MacOS and say "Hey! That's our stuff!" :-)

    --Brian

  34. Don't you mean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    GNU utilities?

  35. Reason for the name (actual content within!) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    They mentioned in an email to Omnigroup's MacOS-X admin & developer lists that they wanted to call the site "The Missing Link", missinglink.com, to go with the "Darwin" theme. However, the URL was taken (by a horseracing program, oddly enough).

    So, I think they settled on "DarwinLinux" because they're a collaboration between Linux experts and Openstep (hence, Darwin) experts.

  36. Re:It's bad enough ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I agree with you that Apple is every bit as bad as Microsoft, and probably would have been worse if they had the position of dominance that Microsoft does.

    That said, remember that pretty much the entire top management and technology team at Apple these days is from NeXt, not the Apple of yore. (Like 6 of the 8 VP's). Next pretty much did a takeover of Apple, not the other way around.

    And Nextstep/Openstep is all about interoperability. This new Apple *did* release the source code to previously proprietary technologies, like NetInfo, the distributed user information database, and the Objective C language runtime. They *have* resubmitted improvements and adjustments they've made to things like Apache and Mach.

    That said, I really wish they would move to a Mozilla-style development model for Darwin. As it is now, they work hard on the core OS, and every once in a while, release the code as Darwin, version whatever. This paralyzes third-party development on Darwin; nobody wants to touch the kernel or anything else, because Apple keeps saying, "we're going to release totally different veresions of this in a couple of months."

    If they moved their own source code tree into the public, then people could actually collaborate and help and add value. As it is, Darwin will just be a pile of code that some curious Mac users download the binary of, and a couple of developers submit obvious bug fixes for.

  37. You haven't thought things through very carefully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    IMHO, the whole concept of releasing Darwin core into open source is stupid unless Apple also releases the OpenStep/NextStep/WebObjects stuff

    The OpenStep/WebObjects/Cocoa is Apple's market advantage: if they open this then Apple has nothing really left to sell. Such an act spells "shareholder lawsuit" - so don't be silly and rash.

    Additionally, many Apple developers ASKED Apple to open what Apple now calls Darwin: Developers have specific use for it (developers can get some apps quicker to market because of Darwin - and this has already happened; some devs wanted to improve upon drivers, etc). So it clearly wasn't a stupid move by Apple.

    All this is going to get us is yet ANOTHER X-based Unix clone

    Actually, it's a varient of BSD, so it's not an all-together new type of Unix. And we all yell HURRAY when there's a new Linux varient. Why's another BSD varient bad?

    And as somebody else wrote here: "Can't you see that this CD may become a huge success once Mac OS X client ships? It will be an easy way to add all the Unix stuff to Mac OS X [client/server] that Apple didn't bundle with the OS." In other words - this DarwinLinux CD allows OS X users to quickly get a large collection of standard unix utilities. This is a Big Deal for OS X power users.

    And if its based on Mach, why the hell are they calling it Linux

    Nobody called it Linux - not even the folk at LinuxDarwin.com. It's clearly a BSD varient. READ THINGS BEFORE YOU JUDGE THEM.

  38. Re:It's bad enough ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3

    You make it sound as though Apple is the creator of DarwinLinux. They're not. They clearly stated that Darwin is simply a BSD/Mach UNIX. The "DarwinLinux," aside from the fact that it uses Darwin as a code base, has no direct relationship to Apple.

    The current Mac OS can't be open-licenced, even if Apple wanted to. OpenStep in Mac OS X relies far too much on third party material, most notably Display PostScript. The GUI of Mac OS 8.x isn't based on UNIX at all, so open-sourcing that would be a nightmare. When the Apple-only Mac OS X Consumer is released, Apple will at least have the ability to open-source.

    Further, Darwin included things which were *not* already available. These include HFS+ support, AppleTalk support, and several other items. In other words, it *does* contribute new things.

  39. Re:It's bad enough ... (not Apple's project) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3
    Why are you ignoring the obvious? The fact that these people are calling this thing "DarwinLinux" says to me that this thing should run Linux programs. If it doesn't run Linux programs (ie: binary compatable with Linux on PPC and/or Linux on Intel, respectively) then this thing shouldn't be called Linux. Their use of this name is extremely objectionable, since they are asking people to "port" Linux programs to what is effectively a completely seperate platform.


    If it WERE Linux, there should be no need to "port" the software. All this is doing is diminishing the value of the Linux brand.

  40. Re:It's bad enough ... (not Apple's project) by David+Rolfe · · Score: 1
    I agree with you guys, I read their site etc, and to me a 'better' name would be something like GNU-Darwin. I'm not sure if that's appropriate if the core isn't gpl...

    And if this whole setup is based on Netbsd does that mean it will share it's platform independance also? Or is this really just a ppc thing?

    --
    Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
  41. Huh? by Luis+Casillas · · Score: 1
    I think you misread this guy. When I saw his post, I thought he meant that he prefers the GNU toolset to be standard rather that the BSD, and that he does not like every company X coming up with its own X Open Source License. Which are both respectable points, IMHO.

    ---

  42. Geesh, you guys are harsh. by gavinhall · · Score: 1

    Posted by wetter:

    Gee, I'm all singed.

    OK, OK, I admit it. The only reason I called the site "DarwinLinux" was because "missinglink.com" was taken and it was the best thing I could think of.

    What I really intend "the missing link" to be is a collection of the best unixware from the various *nix-wares out there, be they BSD-based or Linux based. Apple has independently decided to try to make themselves FreeBSD-like, mainly because they liked the kernel, not because they were particularly enamored of their "ls" implementation...

    That said, all the *nix-wares out there are so incestuous of each other, that its hard to say where one stops and the other begins...

    But one thing that I am planning on bringing over from Linux is the driver set. I hope to create an intermediate software layer between the linux driver set and the Darwin DriverKit/IOKit stuff so that you can use any driver from Linux with a recompile. That's one of the big things missing from both Darwin and MOSXS is driver support.

    Someday, MissingLink might evolve into a full-fledged distribution, but that depends on whether people realize that the kernels that are coming will be pretty hip, and pretty _stable_. At that point, DarwinLinux might be a pretty good name.

    Pierce

  43. okay, but what about OpenStep? by gavinhall · · Score: 2

    Posted by JPerlow:

    IMHO, the whole concept of releasing Darwin core into open source is stupid unless Apple also releases the OpenStep/NextStep/WebObjects stuff (the gui and the libraries are missing, hello)they have for Intel (yes, you do remember NextStep/Openstep for intel, dont you?), because you wont be able to run any of the cool new MacOs applications or ported NextStep/OpenStep stuff without it.

    All this is going to get us is yet ANOTHER X-based Unix clone (after they've ported all the good stuff we already have in Linux and FreeBSD)
    and yet further balkanization. This is a total waste of time when open source porting efforts are already being made for Linux and FreeBSD. We have these things already, they are mature and we like them.

    And if its based on Mach, why the hell are they calling it Linux??????

  44. Re:Distribution Trouble? by zerblat · · Score: 1
    Actually, the whole sentence says Darwinlinux will try to be "one of the best free unix distrubtions around".

    You know, the meaning of sentences tend to change when you choose to skip words :)

    --
    Please alter my pants as fashion dictates.
  45. Re:It's bad enough ... by rasterboy · · Score: 1

    >Apple is more proprietary than >Microsoft--Microsoft has usually shown a >willingness towards open hardware designes

    Yeah, all the computers that Microsoft designs and sells... if Microsoft made a computer it would have all MS proprietary components, be welded shut, and ugly as sin!


    --
    ...end of transmission...
  46. Re:Linux Forces/Microsoft by jmalicki · · Score: 1

    No. We're a group of people who want solid, stable software, no matter who makes it. At least large numbers of "us" are.

  47. DarwinLinux has nothing to do with Linux by Andy+Tai · · Score: 4

    Looks like DarwinLinux is just a porting effort to get the missing Unix software onto Darwin. These are just generic Unix stuff and not Linux-specific. Also no Linux kernel resources are involved. So why use "Linux" in the name? Just to get attention?

    --
    Free Software: the software by the people, of the people and for the people. Develop! Share! Enhance! Enjoy!
  48. They do... It's called WebTV! by isaac · · Score: 1

    'nuff said.

    -Isaac

    --
    I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
    1. Re:They do... It's called WebTV! by MaxwellsSilverHammer · · Score: 1

      yeah, and they friggin' -bought- that. More Innovation(tm MS) in MS hardware.

  49. Re:That's NETBSD. by jkh · · Score: 1

    No offense, but I think Perry simply needs to sync-up with the Apple folks again on what they're doing in BSD land. Their strategies have changed a bit in the last few months and some of it has involved doing exactly what Perry seems to feel would be "an immense pain" (I haven't heard any screaming, let's put it that way :-).

    Wilfredo Sanchez from Apple will be giving a talk on this topic at the USENIX annual technical conference in just a couple of weeks here (see http://www.usenix.org) and those folks who wish to get their information from the horse's mouth, so to speak, should simply attend his talk. It's just one more reason to go to USENIX this year. :)

    --
    - Jordan Hubbard co-founder, the FreeBSD Project. Director, UNIX Technology. Apple Computer
  50. Darwin is not yet Mach 3.0 by GnorpH · · Score: 1

    Darwin in its current release is still Mach 2.5 based. This will change by the arrival of Mac OS X, though.
    By then, optimised SMP will be a reason for working with Darwin.

    --
    --- GnorpH
  51. Re:It's bad enough ... by Rubinstien · · Score: 3

    Hmmm,

    Apple can't release the GUI portions under a free license since they don't hold copyright on large portions of it...Display Postscript. There's some NeXT-specific code in there (interceptor, and some compositing operations) but most belongs to Adobe. Adobe refuses to even license DPS for YellowBox on NT. IMHO there are nefarious reasons for this.

    Instead, Apple is developing Quartz, which is a derivative of Adobe PDF with the compositing stuff thrown in, as well as anti-aliasing and the like which were not part of DPS. I'd assert that this code will also not belong entirely to Apple, and will therefore never be opened until Adobe itself is forced to open code.

    This is the primary argument I have for corporations to endorse open code. In no other business that I can think of can a company pull the rug out from a (potential) industry simply by withdrawing a product. If Ford decides to stop selling cars with electronic ignition systems, your existing Ford will keep on running (well, as well as any other Ford). Adobe pulled DPS, which forced DEC to drop it on their products, and will eventually force Sun, IBM, and others to as well. Anything that depends on it (luckily, not much) will die with it next time you upgrade your commercial X server. DEC has done the same with Pathworks/Mac (VMS File Services for Macintosh) on V7.2. You upgrade, your Mac file services are no longer supported. This stinks.

    I personally haven't agreed to the APSL, since I have no hardware that it will (yet) run on. I have browsed the DarwinLinux directories though and have found that there are i386 directories and even some EISA driver code out there. I think Apple has provided the Intel stuff, it is just broken and out of sync right now. Someone will no doubt get it going on Intel soon. I hope that their effort pays off for both Apple and their customers better than any of them could have expected...this would represent the best possible turn of events as it will build pressure inside and out of Apple to open more code.

    Lastly, I'd like to point out that the lack of GUI on Darwin represents fertile ground for some of the interesting GUI projects that have been in the works. Maybe the Berlin people would be interested? A native DGS would be nice for GNUStep... Hmmm. Some unclaimed territory...

  52. Re:Warning flame content must be 21 to enter by jtn · · Score: 1

    Ahh.. Typical of the content I've come to expect on Slashdot. I shouldn't really respond, but I will anyhow. People who tie UCB/BSD-style licensing to their code do so of their own free will. Nobody is "stealing" their code, because even if Microsoft or whoever uses the code in a binary-only product, your code is still free.

  53. Re:It's bad enough ... by jtn · · Score: 1

    Wow.. all you rabid OpenSource/GPL advocates scream and scream for years and years for Apple to show some initiative. They do so, and you do nothing but flame them. Try to focus on the positives of this situation, otherwise the rest of the corporate world will just see the OpenSourcers as a pack of yipping hyenas, ready to rip any newcomers to shreads.

  54. Re:GUI by jtn · · Score: 2

    Being scared away because something is BSD-derived or has a license other than the GPL is pretty closed-minded. Go check your favorite Linux distribution and you'll find a lot of stuff with some "Regents" copyrights, lifted from BSD.

  55. Re:That's NETBSD. by perry · · Score: 1

    HFS file system support could probably be done pretty straightforwardly -- its a matter of someone having the energy to do so.

    Ditto on COMPAT_MACOSX -- we support enough compatibility modes in NetBSD that it wouldn't be such a big deal if someone took the time on it.

    Volunteers to help are always welcome!

  56. Re:That's NETBSD. by perry · · Score: 1

    I haven't heard any such thing. They mostly use NetBSD userland code, so it would probably be an immense pain for them to yank it all out.

    As for the API, well, we all follow nearly the same API.

  57. That's NETBSD. by perry · · Score: 4

    The OS X userland and TCP stack come from NETBSD, not FREEBSD.

    If you don't believe me, look at the Darwin source code yourself. We've been working with folks from Apple for a long time, and we've been importing most of the improvements and bug fixes they've made so the source bases stay in sync.

    1. Re:That's NETBSD. by Maktoo · · Score: 1

      This is true. I think thought that in the future it will be based all on FreeBSD. They said at WWDC that the BSD APIs and services in MacOS X will be standardized on FreeBSD 3.x. This good I think... better to get all the code from one place rather than a whole mess of places (Open, Net AND FreeBSD)

  58. Re:Ummm. No by IntlHarvester · · Score: 2

    I'm sure Apple would love to time travel back to 1985 and take up Bill Gates offer to make the MacOS the IBM compatible GUI of choice.

    However, now their stuck in the position that they have to stay in business by selling hardware. Even when they were allowing clones, Apple was doing most of the hardware R+D, and they would have had to charge $300 for MacOS to even break even on the lost Mac sales.

    Of course, Apple doesn't make anything which even remotely resembles server class hardware, so OS-X Server/Intel would be nice option that wouldn't hurt their sales much.
    --

    --
    Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
  59. It's bad enough ... by jerodd · · Score: 4
    ... that people tend to refer to a GNU system with a Linux kernel as ``Linux'', but it's even worse when people refer to a BSD system with a BSD/Mach kernel as ``DarwinLinux''. This is the best evidence of seen yet that Apple is willing to do anything to ride on the coattails of GNU, Linux, freed software, and ``Open Source''. Sadly, many have been all to eager to help them.

    Apple, like Sun, IBM, Oracle, SGI, and Microsoft, are the enemy. They pollute the world with more non-freed software aimed at the horizontal market. If Apple is really committed to GNU/Linux, they will release their Mac OS GUI under a freed software licence such as the GPL. So far, they've only displayed a willingness to release code that was already freed (e.g. Mach) under a more-restrictive licence.

    Just because Apple is anti-Microsoft does not mean they are our friends. Yes, they have produced nice hardware, but so has Microsoft--I like the Microsoft IntelliMouse. That doesn't mean I embrace Microsoft's vision of one operating system for the entire world.

    Apple is more proprietary than Microsoft--Microsoft has usually shown a willingness towards open hardware designes. Apple won't even come that far. As far as Apple is concerned, they should be the only hardware vendor. Standards-based specifications such as SCSI or USB help this situation somewhat, but I recall in recent history a great difficulty on the part of the LinuxPPC team in getting decent specs on the iMac.

    Hopefully, anal freed-software fanatics such as I will be able to steer the DarwinLinux group in the right direction. I certainly wouldn't mind any improvements in FreeBSD, as I've found it a wonderful kernel (I just want Debian GNU/FreeBSD ;þ). I am not writing this to show my hate for Apple; I'm simply pointing out that they are yet another huge corporation, such as my beloved IBM, that tends not to have any respect for the lowly hacker such as you and I.

    --
    --jon. Postel is dead. May we all mourn his, and our, loss.
    1. Re:It's bad enough ... by Tardigrade · · Score: 1

      The people flaming now might not be the ones who flamed before.

      I think ``The Missing Link'' will be great. As long as Apple and the DarwinLinux folks make the effort to keep things software and (via emulation) binary compatible, the amount of differing Unices is good.

  60. Re:I miss Macos by seamus · · Score: 1

    Two arguments:

    First: $99 dollars for a full featured, consitently designed operating system does not strike me as expensive. Yes, you can by a Red Hat or SuSE (for example) Linux distribution. But if you want real drag-and-drop and you want to avoid the retrograde command-line, it seems to me a bargain. And Apple will throw in free OS upgrades (Mac 8.6). Does a certain Redmond-based company do that (Windoze '98)?

    Second: You get what you pay for, Natty.

  61. Re:I miss Macos by seamus · · Score: 1

    Then I agree. Being somewhat interested in the flexibility that the assorted Unixes (Linux, BSD, et cetera) provide, it would be cool if the front-end happened to be a Macintosh, and the guts Unix.

  62. Re:NetBSD? Linux? Darwin? huh? by Maktoo · · Score: 1

    They want to port and pack in some of the common utilities and services that come in every Linux distribution and make a similar distribution for Darwin (which is the Open Source version of MacOS X).

    Right now, Darwin is just a binary that you download and install... it doesn't come with anything except the raw files to make it work and compile

  63. NetBSD? Linux? Darwin? huh? by GeneralTao · · Score: 1


    I know I'll sound like a dolt asking this, but if Mac OS-X is based on Mach and NetBSD, then what's with this "DarwinLinux" thing? I don't understand. I gather from the web page that they want to package a distribution of utilities and programs, but what does it have to do with Linux? Please enlighten me.

    --
    --- Tao
    1. Re:NetBSD? Linux? Darwin? huh? by GeneralTao · · Score: 3

      I've always refused to get into the whole "name debate" thing. But doesn't it seem strange that they would call it "Darwin Linux" when the actual Linux kernel is conspicuously missing?

      Thanks for the info, BTW.

      --
      --- Tao
  64. NetBSD supported the correct processor? by Binary+Ninja · · Score: 1


    FreeBSD is Alpha/Intel specific. NetBSD supports the motorola crap.

  65. uh-oh: "GNU/Darwin" ;-) ^D by kipling · · Score: 1

    ^D

    --
    -- open source? sounds like the real book --
  66. Re:You haven't thought things through very careful by eMBee · · Score: 1
    Nobody called it Linux - not even the folk at LinuxDarwin.com. It's clearly a BSD varient.

    erm, their domain is called linuxdarwin. if this is not 'calling it linux', what is?

    --
    Gnu is Not Unix / Linux Is Not UniX
  67. GUI by rullskidor · · Score: 1

    darwin comes with no GUI, no X, no nothing. It's just one console(no virtual as far as I know).

    I'm not to excited of it, it's BSD and it's yet-another-lisence so it has scared me off

    Plain ol'GNU/Linux works today, darwin just got it's first release a couple of days ago. Don't expect to much from it at this point...

    --
    De lyckliga slavarna är frihetens bittraste fiender, legalisera!!!
    1. Re:GUI by rullskidor · · Score: 1

      So using GNU/Linux is all about not wanting a usefull system ?, no
      Linux is not about cryptic commands or difficult installation.

      GNU/Linux is about working software that gives you the power and even works out of the box.

      darwin is more or less apple's attempt to "do a linux" but they will fail with that, but might create a good system and with their Unfair lisences they will never get thretend by it because they can use all the source propertary without giving anything back to you.

      --
      De lyckliga slavarna är frihetens bittraste fiender, legalisera!!!
    2. Re:GUI by Dr.Evil · · Score: 1

      If most of us had wanted a complete operating system that worked right out of the box, we wouldn't have started messing with Linux in the first place! We'd still be using Windoze...

      --
      Right...
  68. Re: another way by rullskidor · · Score: 1

    Or they might add all the x86 stuff and totally bloat darwin who is pimary creted for PPCs ;-)

    --
    De lyckliga slavarna är frihetens bittraste fiender, legalisera!!!
  69. lets sue them ;) by rullskidor · · Score: 1

    How about suing them for flase marketing?, no linux[kernel] is used so they are only in for the hype.

    They say they want the missing pieces found in a GNU/Linux system but them they should use the term GNU/darwin or DarwinGNU or something, defenitley not darwinLinux.

    They just showed how ignorant they relly are, the least thing they can do is to use the correct name: is that relly a problem?????

    --
    De lyckliga slavarna är frihetens bittraste fiender, legalisera!!!
  70. You can tell! by rullskidor · · Score: 1

    1) I'll tell you they will NOT port linux to darwin(if the darwin kernel goes whats left??, almost nothing except a strangely lisnced BSD system!)

    2) LGPL has nothing to do with linux, linux is covered by GPL

    3) If they take GPL code, their code must be GPL to, and they don't want that.

    --
    De lyckliga slavarna är frihetens bittraste fiender, legalisera!!!
  71. Apple understands opensource (a bit) by Bart+van+der+Ouderaa · · Score: 1

    I've been to the WWDC, so i might be a bit brainwashed :) but Apple is really participating in the open source movement.
    Not only because of Darwin (which is in part based on next/openstep,net and openbsd, but will be synched to freebsd 3 ), but also because of several opensource tools they use and improve (which includes getting bugfixes and improvements back into the code base like they should).
    They actively work on improving Apache (and they claim to have submitted many bugfixes and improvements) and are standardizing on egcs as a compiler (again they have improved/fixed it and submitted the stuff).
    Darwin might not even be the last thing they release as opensource, they are looking at all the software projects. While granted most won't be open source, many will be.
    So bottomline, they are not only taking from the opensource movement but attributing to it as well, unlike a redmond company i could mention (although they are to scared to even touch opensource).

    btw,Darwin= mach 3.0 + bsdkernel (including tcp stack)+drivers+file systems on which bsd apps can run.

  72. Re:I miss Macos by SergeGrenier · · Score: 1

    Too bad those Apple people are a bunch of pricks and expect me to buy a Power Mac and an expensive operating system. Oh well.

    I have both an old PPC 7100 on my desk and a brand new Pentium II MMX (which cost me 3000$CAN). And I find that Linux with KDE on this Pentium feels much slower than MacOS on my PPC 7100.

    An iMac is MUCH faster and would have cost me less!

    --
    --- Whatever takes you through the night...
  73. Linux Forces/Microsoft by iceygambler · · Score: 1

    The newest issue of Linux Journal has several features on Linux and Java.The program writing and backbiting of forces,philosophy of free software and programs.There is room for both and Microsoft better realize the controls are off.Philosophy can stop Unix and the big M also.Aren't we really a group of idealists at heart?

    --
    icey
  74. Re:I miss Macos by Natty · · Score: 1

    Actually, when I said an expensive operating system I was thinking of MacosX server. It seams really hot and could give me both my nice old Macintosh "look and feal" and that rad unix thing I have going on. Now we're talking $400 for an operating system. That is one pretty penny, seamus. (;

    I guess this opensource stuff spoils me. I'm not used to paying for my software anymore! Paying over $10 for an OS seams just down right outrageous. Me being a poor lazy high school student, $400 is more money then I'm likely to have for a while.

  75. I miss Macos by Natty · · Score: 2

    I remember those good days I had with my little Mac. Now wouldn't it be cool if I could just get that nice little interface on top of a free unix operating system AND run Escape Velocity. . hmmm posix compliant Macos gaming machine, drool. Too bad those Apple people are a bunch of pricks and expect me to buy a Power Mac and an expensive operating syetem. Oh well.

    Though I would like to see how fast Apple would pull out there termination clause if someone tried to add Macos style functionality and compatibility to Darwin.

  76. Re: Use of cool language by gandalf_grey · · Score: 1

    What was probably meant was that it will be in tune with (synced with) FreeBSD and future releases of FreeBSD. Just the use of a cool word cause it makes it so much more WOWish..

    Just my 0.2 cents.

    --
    Mmmmmmm. Floor pie!
  77. Distribution Trouble? by gandalf_grey · · Score: 1

    Isn't there something in a site that calls itself www.darwinlinux.com and claims to be trying to be "the best free unix distrubtions" {typo the site provided}. Is that to directly imply that Linux can now be safely termed the best Unix around? What about variants of Unix {no names = no flames :-))}
    The focus seems to have shifted somewhat from creating features that people wanted, adding stuff to an OS that is the best around, to creating a version that is unique and your own. Then what really is the diff between MSoft and them (leave the free bit out please). :-)).
    Before there's a flame war on anything that's unintentionally hurt anyone, just consider are distributions doing this kind of positioning such a great idea?
    I wonder if 2 many choices is a good thing or a bad thing...

    --
    Mmmmmmm. Floor pie!
  78. Ummm. No by CapsaicinBoy · · Score: 2
    Darwin is not "pimary creted"(sic) for PPC. Darwin is essentially an opensourced, updated version of the underpinings of OpenStep. Most of the x86 stuff is already in there. Apple just hasn't released an x86 binary. Why should they? Overextending themselves won't help anybody.

    Once Darwin is further along, I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple simply recompile the remaining layers,(ie Quartz and Cocoa) and release OSX/x86 ala Rhapsody DR2/x86. I am unaware of any technical reason they couldn't do this. With this approach, they can provide a larger market for their developers without dooming the project by attempting to do too much initially.

    (For those of you who don't know, Quartz is the replacement for the DisplayPostScript imaging model found in OSXServer and Openstep. Cocoa is the new name for the Obj.C and Java API's formerly known as YellowBox)

    Openstep is Dead! Long Live Openstep!