🚀 go-pugleaf

dswartz@sw.stratus.com (Dan Swartzendruber) writes:

[I wrote]

>> MacMach was a partnership w/ Apple and has a bit of proprietary stuff in it;
>> that was to be covered in the general license. I don't know but imagine that
>> some of it was in the kernal also. I'd be surprised if ANY part of MacMach
>> could be distributed freely.

>Fine, but what does any possible proprietary Apple code have to do with
>requiring an AT&T license?

The agreement you would have signed with CMU would have covered the AT&T and
Apple code. This would have been assuming that you already HAD an AT&T license
and the Apple code would have come for free (but NOT be freely distributable).

AT&T and Apple code in MacMach means it can't be distributed freely.

Apple code, if present in the MachMach kernal would mean that the MacMach
kernal (apart from MacMach as a whole) can't be freely distributed either.

If you want to do Mac and unix stuff at the same time on the same machine, look
into A/UX or MachTen. If you want unix source code to play with, look into
BSDI386 or 386BSD or Linux or the Hurd. If you want a free unix: 386BSD or
Linux or the Hurd again. If you want the source code to a unix on the *Mac*,
well, there is none, you'll need to port BSD 4.4 and the BSD or Mach kernals
(or Linux or the Hurd).

Note that MacMach allowed you to run the MacOS under Mach but then you
were locked out of the unix side (which is why to work with BOTH you need A/UX
or MachTen).

Glossary:
A/UX is Apple's commercial SysV unix.
MachTen is Tenon's commercial Mach+BSD unix.
BSDI386 is BSDI's 386 BSD unix.
386BSD and Linux are free unixes-in-the-works.
Hurd is the GNU's semi-mythical Mach-based better-than-unix, also in the works.

PS. I forgot MtXinu's BSD+Mach unix, commercial, 386, but source is included.

Mark L