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Penguins love apples! Click the image to go to the source page.[/caption]
Gotta love the future. People are always announcing the great things they're going to do there. Probably why there's a lineup to get in. For instance, in the future we'll be able to run Mac OS X programs in Linux! At least that's the goal of The Darling Project, which is hard at work, trying to create a "compatibility layer" approach to running Apple's Macintosh OS X applications within Linux, exactly the way the program Wine allows Windows programs to run in Linux. There is nothing to download yet, but this sort of "sexy" opensource effort grabs attention -- It grabbed mine.
I won't hold my breath though. If this was easy, it would've been done already. And is a program like this ever done? Consider Wine for a moment -- it was first released in 1993, and has been a true work-in-progress ever since. After 20 years, it still only runs lots of Windows programs, rather than all. Wine's approach to doing this is unique; it isn't an emulator. Wine provides Windows programs with the thin layer of Windows functionality they need to run (if you're lucky) in the Linux operating system. I like to think about it in terms of potted plants. The programs are plants; Wine provides the pots. and soil; Linux is your apartment. The Darling Project wants to do the same thing for Mac programs.
This item on the IT World Web site questions whether the effort is really necessary. Writer Jim Lynch asks:
I know Wine is used to run more than just Word, Photoshop, and games. Windows has nurtured uncounted software gems which have no real parallel on other platforms. One that comes easily to mind is Irfanview, a graphic viewer, and then some. There are hundreds of other clever applications, unique to Windows. There are likewise lots of great applications which are unique to Macs; but no, most Linux users aren't pining for them, because the majority of Linux users come from a Windows-only background. And until there's a way to run Mac ware in Linux, they will have no reason to find out what they might be missing.
Here are four Mac-only applications I miss:
Unfortunately, it's already too late for TermKit, which, I thought was a Mac-only application,though it's listed for both Mac and Windows now. TermKit was, and is,, a stunning graphical re-imagining of the Terminal built using WebKit, and node.js. The project was announced back in 2011, by Steven Wittens, the creator. I first read about it here. It generated a lot of excitement, but seems to have died due to it's own shortcomings, and a lack of community involvement which would have been needed to fix those shortcomings. Wittens has some thing to say here about a community that demanded, complained, but refused to lift a finger to help him. Wittens says TermKit isn't dead; that his Java skills are much better now, and he will finish it. I hope so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Z5dnlfcls
Penguins love apples! Click the image to go to the source page.[/caption]Gotta love the future. People are always announcing the great things they're going to do there. Probably why there's a lineup to get in. For instance, in the future we'll be able to run Mac OS X programs in Linux! At least that's the goal of The Darling Project, which is hard at work, trying to create a "compatibility layer" approach to running Apple's Macintosh OS X applications within Linux, exactly the way the program Wine allows Windows programs to run in Linux. There is nothing to download yet, but this sort of "sexy" opensource effort grabs attention -- It grabbed mine.
I won't hold my breath though. If this was easy, it would've been done already. And is a program like this ever done? Consider Wine for a moment -- it was first released in 1993, and has been a true work-in-progress ever since. After 20 years, it still only runs lots of Windows programs, rather than all. Wine's approach to doing this is unique; it isn't an emulator. Wine provides Windows programs with the thin layer of Windows functionality they need to run (if you're lucky) in the Linux operating system. I like to think about it in terms of potted plants. The programs are plants; Wine provides the pots. and soil; Linux is your apartment. The Darling Project wants to do the same thing for Mac programs.
This item on the IT World Web site questions whether the effort is really necessary. Writer Jim Lynch asks:
"Are there a lot of people out there who would want to do this? I can understand Wine, as there are tons of Windows applications that some Linux users might want, but I don't see the same thing applying to OS X apps."
I know Wine is used to run more than just Word, Photoshop, and games. Windows has nurtured uncounted software gems which have no real parallel on other platforms. One that comes easily to mind is Irfanview, a graphic viewer, and then some. There are hundreds of other clever applications, unique to Windows. There are likewise lots of great applications which are unique to Macs; but no, most Linux users aren't pining for them, because the majority of Linux users come from a Windows-only background. And until there's a way to run Mac ware in Linux, they will have no reason to find out what they might be missing.
Here are four Mac-only applications I miss:
- GraphicConverter -- every bit as amazing as Irfanview, and in continual development since at least 1992.
- BBEdit -- a programmer-friendly text editor which I still prefer to anything I've used in Linuxland.
- Nisus Writer -- A very good word processor. Back in the 1990s Nisus had unique, and useful, features like non-contiguous text selection.
- iTerm 2 -- Mac OS Terminal emulator, with multiplexing. Better, I think than what Linux has to offer, such as Terminator.
Futuristic TermKit is a thing of the past
Unfortunately, it's already too late for TermKit, which, I thought was a Mac-only application,though it's listed for both Mac and Windows now. TermKit was, and is,, a stunning graphical re-imagining of the Terminal built using WebKit, and node.js. The project was announced back in 2011, by Steven Wittens, the creator. I first read about it here. It generated a lot of excitement, but seems to have died due to it's own shortcomings, and a lack of community involvement which would have been needed to fix those shortcomings. Wittens has some thing to say here about a community that demanded, complained, but refused to lift a finger to help him. Wittens says TermKit isn't dead; that his Java skills are much better now, and he will finish it. I hope so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Z5dnlfcls
ars technica talks to Darling's one-man development team ►
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