3 ms·

I'm a bit naïve about Macs... Can someone explain to me why many open source programs need to be "ported" to a Mac? Isn't it just a make -> make install?

• smanek 18y ago
  Usually that does work but there are a few issues. First of all, since there is no package management to speak of, you often run into dependency hell (A requires B requires C requires D ...). Thankfully, we have macports (think of it like a limited version of apt) to get around most of those problems. The real issue, for graphical apps at least, is that X11 apps don't look and feel like native Mac apps which run on Quartz (correct me if I'm mistaken).
• nailer 18y ago
  Alas a 'make install' won't cut it. There a bunch of things from the system call level (eg, Linux specific locking methods) to the UI level (Macs don't use freedesktop.org specs, instead they have their own standards). So things need to be ported, and that's why there's less OSS software for Macs.
• DougBTX 18y ago
  Look and feel play a big part, even once you get things to compile. A "Native" OS X application should (largely) follow the Apple Human Interface Guidelines[1], but the same application following those guidelines in another operating system would probably feel out of place. Hence the need to "port". This applies less to command line tools etc, since they don't need a GUI and can just follow POSIX CLI standards to fit in. [1] http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGIntro/chapter_1_section_1.html http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conc...