Macs

[Odd]

Amedee Van Gasse (Ubuntu) wrote:
> On Wed, September 16, 2009 13:01, Odd wrote:
>> Amedee Van Gasse (Ubuntu) wrote:
>>> On Tue, September 15, 2009 23:44, Michael Haney wrote:
>>>> On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 5:35 PM, David Sanders
>>>> <dsuzukisanders at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> And just for the record. UNIX != Linux, in case Unix compatibility
>>>>> makes you think that MacOS X is in any way Linux "compatible".
>>>>>
>>>> I found that out a long time ago.  Their binary formats are completely
>>>> different.
>>> I always thought that Unix compatible was more or less synonymous for
>>> source-compatible, as in "write once, compile everywhere".
>> That's true. There may be a few differences between the BSD branch
>> of UNIX and the System V branch, but they are minor.
>>
>>> Of course the executable format is different, but if you could grab the
>>> source of a Mac program (AND all of its dependencies), wouldn't it at
>>> least in theory be possible to recompile from scratch? My gut feeling
>>> tells me that this should at least be true for simple console
>>> applications.
>> For simple console applications, yes. But for more advanced
>> stuff, that uses Apple's proprietary software layers, you're out
>> of luck.
> 
> That's exactly why I wrote "if you COULD grab the source" (I'm not
> claiming that you can, but for argument's sake, lets just assume that it
> is possible).
> I also wrote "AND all of the dependencies". I consider the Apple
> proprietary software layers as dependencies.
> 
> Remember, this is sounder, the off-topic list, where we don't discuss real
> things but explore the realms of the imaginable and unimaginable. *cue
> Outer Limits theme*
> :-)

Ah, OK. If we had all of the source code to OS X, we could do anything.
So you're right about that. :)

-- 
Odd