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GNU-Darwin

GNU-Darwin is a project to package applications for the Mac OS X and Darwin operating systems. They also distribute versions of the Darwin operating system (produced by Apple) and the OpenDarwin operating system which is based on Darwin, although the versions they distribute tend to lag behind the current releases. The project states that its goals are to "focus on projects that leverage our unique combination of Darwin and GNU, and help users to enjoy the benefits of software freedom."

GNU-Darwin is also a platform for digital activism. The project attempts to bring certain issues to the attention of software users, by highlighting them on their website, and on occasion "blacking out" their website in protest. They have highlighted such issues as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Adobe's use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov.

History

The project was founded by Michael L. Love in November 2000, with the intended goal of porting free software applications to Mac OS X.

Originally, Love had intended to re-write the software to use the Quartz graphics layer that Mac OS X uses by default. After the XonX project ported the X Window System to Mac OS X and Darwin, however, the goals of the GNU-Darwin project changed to simply packaging software to work with the X Window System.

In 2002, the GNU-Darwin group launched a campaign they called "Free Darwin" that was aimed at pressuring Apple to modify the Apple Public Source License (APSL) under which Darwin is licensed. The Free Darwin campaign culminated in December 2002, when GNU-Darwin dropped its support of software linked with proprietary libraries (including Cocoa and Carbon) and switched to the x86 architecture. The PowerPC offering was put into maintenance mode. In July 2003, Apple released version 2.0 of the APSL, which earned a "free software" certification from the Free Software Foundation.

Version 1.0 of the package manager was released in January 2003, allowing for the installation of over 15,000 software packages.

Description

In its current version, GNU-Darwin can be installed on top of a preexisting installation of Mac OS X, Darwin or OpenDarwin. The project plans to release a bootable installer that bundles the GNU-Darwin packages with OpenDarwin, thereby creating a one-step install, however after a number of years that has yet to appear.

The GNU-Darwin system is a port of the FreeBSD ports collection. Makefiles contain the instructions on the location of software packages and how to install them on Darwin. These Makefiles are arranged in a directory hierarchy. Users find the directory that corresponds to the software they want to install, and run a command within that directory that downloads the software, compiles and installs it. Alternatively, pre-compiled (binaries) packages are sometimes available that can be installed with the use of the pkg_add command.

GNU-Darwin also distribute some packages from the GNUstep project. The GNUstep project has been working since 1994 to create a free implementation of the OpenStep object-oriented development environment (which later became the Cocoa API on Mac OS X) on Unix.

All GNU-Darwin packages can be downloaded free of charge from the web. The project has also made its packages available for purchase on CD or DVD discs, with proceeds going back to the project. Two examples include the 5 DVD set for PowerPC, which sells for $45 USD on the website, and the pre-installed hard drive for x86 or PowerPC, for $250 USD.

Criticism

Technical decisions of the GNU-Darwin project have received some criticism from the Macintosh community in general and individuals such as FreeBSD co-founder Jordan Hubbard. Criticism centers on the activism of the project's founder and the quality of the ports available from the project.

The project has also received criticism for not contributing back to the original developers or the people who actually did the porting work for packages such as X Window System, GIMP, GNUstep, etc. Also, there have been complaints that packages made available for free download are frequently unavailable, requiring anyone who wants to install their software to pay for the CD or DVD sets or get the software from another source. The GNUstep project even recommends users get the required packages for GNUstep from the competing Fink project instead of GNU-Darwin.