Mac OS a Distro?

[Ravernomina]

Ive really been thinking... Is Mac OS X a Darwin/BSD distro? I mean i can run Aqua/GDM/KDE, I can also run RPM and PGK for package managers. I can also fully edit the OS with a command through terminal or finder. Also mac OS X is Open source as well. So could it be a distro in itself?

[schauerlich]

The link in my signature has some good information about the structure of OS X. It's Unix, but very different from Linux.

[The Funkbomb]

As Ubuntu users, it's like that cousin that made it famous and then comes around just to tell us how much better he is. :P

[Ravernomina]

The link in my signature has some good information about the structure of OS X. It's Unix, but very different from Linux.

Well i know that for sure just trying to run some commands that Linux has Mac OS does not. But what im trying to state is it a BSD/Darwin Distro

[-grubby]

mac OS X is Open source as well.

No, it isn't. Read the link EDavidBurg's signature please.

[schauerlich]

Well i know that for sure just trying to run some commands that Linux has Mac OS does not. But what im trying to state is it a BSD/Darwin Distro

What do you mean by "distro"? Yeah, it's based on Darwin, and Darwin incorporates a bunch of BSD code. However, "distro" to me means something quite different. Distributions are collections of software packages written by a bunch of different projects and put together. OS X is built from the ground up by the same people.

[Ravernomina]

No, it isn't. Read the link EDavidBurg's signature please.

I just did and i still think its a distro. Course you half to buy it but its like Redhat or OpenSUSE.

[N4zgu1]

Mac OS is not open source, part of it is open source (Darwin) but most of it is not, anyway I don't think it is a distro

[Ravernomina]

What do you mean by "distro"? Yeah, it's based on Darwin, and Darwin incorporates a bunch of BSD code. However, "distro" to me means something quite different. Distributions are collections of software packages written by a bunch of different projects and put together. OS X is built from the ground up by the same people.

To me its an OS that can be totally modified and is open source to a point. Meaning that the core of the OS (not the GUI), can be modified to the users liking and be able to change anything in it as well. Also that it is UNIX based and have a package manager. Along with a community and free support, software, and development tools.

[Ravernomina]

Mac OS is not open source, part of it is open source (Darwin) but most of it is not, anyway I don't think it is a distro

read Edavidburgs thing about Mac OS in his sig it clearly is.


Sorry for Double Post :l

[earthpigg]

OS X can be called by the slang term "distro" just like my cat can be called by the slang term "dude".

[Ravernomina]

OS X can be called by the slang term "distro" just like my cat can be called by the slang term "dude".

If your cat is a Male then i understand. If not then your just mocking me


and it like the slang term for ubuntu is "distro"

[schauerlich]

To me its an OS that can be totally modified and is open source to a point. Meaning that the core of the OS (not the GUI), can be modified to the users liking and be able to change anything in it as well. Also that it is UNIX based and have a package manager. Along with a community and free support, software, and development tools.

It's still a very different setup than a Linux distribution. "Distro" has a connotation which is not appropriate in this context.

[Ravernomina]

It's still a very different setup than a Linux distribution. "Distro" has a connotation which is not appropriate in this context.

well i know its not even close to a Linux distro its EXTREMELY far off. Im meaning BSD Distro, Nothing close to Linux but BSD

[earthpigg]

If your cat is a Male then i understand. If not then your just mocking me

and it like the slang term for ubuntu is "distro"

not mocking you.

pointing out that you can take damn near any adjective, expand it's definition broadly enough, and then make it apply to everything and anything.

I can distribute Darwin, derivative works, and modifications thereof as I please, so long as I freely pass onto others the freedoms that where freely given to me.

I can not do this with OS X.

[Ravernomina]

not mocking you.

pointing out that you can take damn near any adjective, expand it's definition broadly enough, and then make it apply to everything and anything.

I can distribute Darwin, derivative works, and modifications thereof as I please, so long as I freely pass onto others the freedoms that where freely given to me.

I can not do this with OS X.

you can do this with OS X. Not with Aqua but everything else is open source.

[SunnyRabbiera]

I just did and i still think its a distro. Course you half to buy it but its like Redhat or OpenSUSE.

No openSUSE is free to download now, has been for some time now.

[Ravernomina]

No openSUSE is free to download now, has been for some time now.

sorry mean i SUSE :P..... Havnt slept in a while now....

[schauerlich]

you can do this with OS X. Not with Aqua but everything else is open source.

OS X - proprietary stuff ~= Darwin. So, to repeat what people have been saying: Darwin is free/open source. OS X is proprietary/mixed source.

[Ravernomina]

OS X - proprietary stuff ~= Darwin. So, to repeat what people have been saying: Darwin is free/open source. OS X is proprietary/mixed source.

Mac OS X RUNS on Darwin. Only thing not open source is the GUI

[Warpnow]

OSX could be called a unix distribution, but not a linux distribution. Calling it a bsd distribution would be iffy.

[schauerlich]

Mac OS X RUNS on Darwin. Only thing not open source is the GUI

Incorrect. I don't think you read my FAQ very carefully.

[Ravernomina]

OSX could be called a unix distribution, but not a linux distribution. Calling it a bsd distribution would be iffy.

I would agree with you on that that. UNIX distro would match it better now that i think about it

[Ravernomina]

Incorrect. I don't think you read my FAQ very carefully.

Yes correct. Darwin is the Core Of Mac OS X. OpenDarwin is just the kernel. And GNU-Darwin is a Darwin Distro. Darwin runs OS X it Is OS X. Besides Cocoa and Aqua and carbon everything else is open source and can be modified.

[wmcbrine]

I don't think the BSD community uses the term "distro" anyway (?), even if you looked at it as a flavor of BSD.

[schauerlich]

Yes correct. Darwin is the Core Of Mac OS X. OpenDarwin is just the kernel. And GNU-Darwin is a Darwin Distro. Darwin runs OS X it Is OS X. Besides Cocoa and Aqua and carbon everything else is open source and can be modified.

Still wrong.

[KiwiNZ]

@ Ravernomina and edavidburg have a read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X and let others travel back to topic

[LinuxFanBoi]

My understanding of the way open source licenses work is that you are free to borrow from open source projects and even sell your wares for profit, however anything derived from open source must it self remain open and freely available.

Apple is free to make wholly closed source applications that interact with the open source portions, this is true. What apple has borrowed from Berkly and integrated into what they call OS X is now something else entirely. It's not BSD unless Berkley says it's BSD.

[earthpigg]

My understanding of the way open source licenses work is that you are free to borrow from open source projects and even sell your wares for profit, however anything derived from open source must it self remain open and freely available.

thats the way the GPL works, but not all open source stuff.

the BSD license, for example, allows you to take something open source and make it non-free. example: Google Chrome. example: BSD Unix. example: CUPS, the printing system used by ubuntu. example: OpenSSH, installed by default on ubuntu.

[Paqman]

OS X isn't OS X without the massive pile of proprietary gubbins that sit atop the open source core.

Darwin is open source, OS X is most definitely not.

[HappinessNow]

Ive really been thinking... Is Mac OS X a Darwin/BSD distro? I mean i can run Aqua/GDM/KDE, I can also run RPM and PGK for package managers. I can also fully edit the OS with a command through terminal or finder. Also mac OS X is Open source as well. So could it be a distro in itself?


The link in my signature has some good information about the structure of OS X. It's Unix, but very different from Linux.

Ravernomina never said anything about Linux.

[gn2]

How can OSX be a distribution, when you are not free to distribute it?

[earthpigg]

How can OSX be a distribution, when you are not free to distribute it?

that.

[3rdalbum]

If it's the only distribution, then it's not a distribution.

We don't talk about "Syllable distributions" or "Haiku distributions", because there's only one of each. If somebody did put together a different set of software on top of Haiku, it would still just be Haiku because the core is the same.