I'm not certain, but I have a feeling you're going to find that it's
10.4.x
Prior to this OS X wasn't aware of universal binaries...
Anything compiled with GCC 4, which is required to produce Mac Intel code
and therefore a Universal Binary, requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher. This
is because of a required library. (Note: one of the links below claims this
is only true for C++ code and that obj. C will run back to 10.3.) I don't
know if it's possible or legal to include this library in an installer and
get backwards compatibility that way.
It is possible to get Xcode to compile the PPC part using GCC 3.3 and the
Intel part using GCC 4 and merge the two, resulting in a UB that will run on
10.2 or higher on a Power Mac. I've built Xcode applications this way, but
I'm still struggling to build dylibs this way.
I'm guessing that parts of the RB runtime are produced using Xcode (?).
Which means the likely minimum is 10.3.9 unless they set up their Xcode
projects so that the PPC parts were compiled using GCC 3.3.
I believe the same goes for plugins. If you use a plugin that was just
compiled as a straight UB, that dylib in the plugin will require 10.3.9 or
higher. It won't successfully link at startup to an earlier OS.
http://bura-bura.com/blog/archives/2005/08/02/how-to-compile-an-application-for-102-or-103-using-xcode-21/
http://developer.apple.com/releasenotes/DeveloperTools/GCC40PortingReleaseNotes/Articles/PortingToGCC.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40002071-100947
http://www.cocoabuilder.com/archive/message/cocoa/2005/5/2/134561
I'm about to hit this issue because I want to release a TextSpresso update,
but I know my UB dylibs are 10.3.9 or higher, and I have no idea about the
rest of the supporting cast (RB, MBS, Einhugur). I'm guessing that
PreemptiveThreadTD plugin also wants 10.3.9 or higher. (It's terrible for a
developer to say "guess", isn't it? That plugin is C. So it might work back
to 10.3 according to one link. Can't test it without a 10.3 volume though.)
If I can dig up 10.2 and 10.3 discs some where, I'll create a separate test
volume and find out for sure. If my RB environment, including plugins, can
run on earlier OSes, then I'll pursue a solution for my own libraries. Or
include a separate PPC only build and link on my site.
Side note: Apple didn't handle this well IMHO. There was no clear notice of
the minimum requirements change when switching to a UB setup. There's no
clear instructions on how to work around the issue. And therefore clear
requirements and instructions seem to be lacking down the chain (RB,
plugins, 3rd party libs, etc.).
Along those lines, and I hate to say this, but one advantage of Windows is
that it's infinetly easier to setup test environments with different OS
versions to insure product compatibility. Just run a virtual environment
(VPC is now free) and install the various OS versions on separate virtual
volumes.
Oh well, off my soap box. As I find out more I'll post here. Like I said, I
need to solve this issue for myself this week.
Daniel L. Taylor
Taylor Design
Computer Consulting & Software Development
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.taylor-design.com
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