On Thu, 2008-01-03 at 20:12 +1100, Chris Allen wrote: > I notice when when I look at boxes for new hardware (& some software) it > often says it will run a PC or MAC with rarely a mention of Linux. I > presume that means under M$ systems for the PC. > > For the MAC, I understand the standard operating system is bases on Unix > (or Linux). Does this imply that if it runs for a MAC, it will also run > on a Linux PC?
Afraid not. MacOS X is FreeBSD with some major modifications: - some subsystems are replaced (such as the init system) - a range of proprietary drivers (graphics, modem, etc) - a graphical system - the binaries carry around a lot of additional information (such as icons) MacOS binaries will not run on Linux. Only the most boring Apple source code will recompile on Linux (eg, standalone text mode commands). Going the other way, a lot of Linux utilities will recompile on the Mac. Interestingly, Linux works fine on Apple hardware. I'm writing this using Ubuntu on a PowerBook G4. My main work computer is a MacBook Pro running Fedora, and my main home computer is a Mac Mini running Fedora. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
