Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 26th Dec 2008 11:58 UTC, submitted by probono
Most of you will know that the underlying core set of components of Mac OS X and the iPhone operating system are released under the Apple Public Source License, an FSF-approved open source license. Few of you, however, will have actually used Darwin in any other form than Mac OS X or the iPhone OS. Despite numerous projects attempting so, Darwin has never gained any significant traction apart from Apple's own interest. The PureDarwin project tries to rise from the ashes of the OpenDarwin project, and has just released a Christmas developer preview.
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Member since:
2005-06-29
Exept... XNU isn't a microkernel.
It's a hybrid kernel - a loaded term among Linux enthusiasts, but a valid term, nonetheless. Linux, the BSDs, and Solaris all use monolithic kernels, meaning there certainly is a difference between the two. If you don't know the differences between micro, monolithic, and hybrid kernels, then feel free to Google around.
From the top of my head, these first two came to my mind. If you think that employing a totally different kernel type, as well as a radically different device driver kit unlike any of the others mentioned in this thread doesn't justify calling Darwin unique... Well, then you might as well call Linux, Solaris, BSD, Windows NT, Mac OS X, AmigaOS, etc. etc. the same.
Me thinks people are simply too lazy to study the more technical differences, instead focussing on the stuff they can grasp, which rarely - if ever - goes any further than the colour scheme and 3D effects used.
Edited 2008-12-26 18:03 UTC