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On the linked superuser site there is repeatedly mentioned that Mac OS X is build "on top" of Unix. This is not quite right. OS X has a BSD userland, but in man
by ralfd 15y ago
On the linked superuser site there is repeatedly mentioned that Mac OS X is build "on top" of Unix. This is not quite right. OS X has a BSD userland, but in many ways its developers thought differently.
For example "/dev/audio" doesn't exist on OS X. CoreAudio is taking a different route than the "everything is a file" Unix approach.
- 4ad 15y agoAnd /dev/tcp does not exist in Unix. Neither does /dev/draw. Everything is a file broke in Unix in the '80s when sockets and X windows came. Original Unix' developers tried (and succeeded, IMO) to fix these problems and created Plan9. In Plan9 all I/O, being regular I/O, GUI applications, networking etc are done through the namespace. Unix means two things today, one is a useless certification, usually referred as UNIX and the other one is a loose set of tools, ideas and encompassing practices. Mac OS X fits both these definitions.
- zokier 15y agoOn the other hand OS X is actually certified UNIX. So saying that OS X is built on top of UNIX is imho very correct. If the current specifications for UNIX match the original ideologies of Unix is completely different matter.
- rat87 15y ago"""For example "/dev/audio" doesn't exist on OS X.""" or linux