Make an 'OS X-like' BSD/Linux distro

[Guest]

I have a strange idea when came to me when I was exploring my Mac os X in pearpc. What acctualy is Mac os X? It is a UNIX whith some kind of Xserver on it. It is Darwin. Darwin is based on BSD.
Let's do like this:
-take a minimal freeBSD unix version (This unix runs on x86).
-Set X server:
-A Mac os like background
-Let's use a minimal KDE (K Desktop Environment) as a start
-Create dock (something like objectdock but for unix/linux)Easy!
-Create or take from web mac os x theme
-Make something like objectbar to function as the the bar with apple (We may use pear for example), File edit help, etc... (I saw the similar option with one of KDE styles) It would be easy to make it function as close to macs one.
-Set icons/cursors/maybe sounds like in mac os x (easy)
-Modify kde aplications to look like Mac os x ones or create new ones. (I saw avefontbook and other mac os utilities written by fans
for windows that do a REAL job - No problem creating similar ones for unix).
-Create a few scrips maybe
-Create a folder "Applications"
Put in it our "mac os" utilities there (some kde - mac os skined apps also.) Like for example: Text editor, music player, help manager, etc...
-Macs can read text aloud - Unix also can (there are a lots of those apps for unix - for example festival. We just need to configure it to read text from our Text Editor)
-Add some simple dialogs/warnings/notifications in style of mac os x

After that, add a nice setup and a few graphical utilities (Make our os simple to use) - maybe someone from freeBSD team would help and voila - we have a mac os x like operating system on our x86 computer.

Benefits:
-native speed
-almost the same as in mac os x look&feel
-fun
-Can read text aloud like mac
-The project can evolwe into a great free system that will be a reflection of mac os x on milions of PC's at home and offices.

[pearpctweaker]

[quote="Guest":12130440c3]
I have a strange idea when came to me when I was exploring my Mac os X in pearpc. What acctualy is Mac os X? It is a UNIX whith some kind of Xserver on it. It is Darwin. Darwin is based on BSD.
Let's do like this:
-take a minimal freeBSD unix version (This unix runs on x86).
-Set X server:
-A Mac os like background
-Let's use a minimal KDE (K Desktop Environment) as a start
-Create dock (something like objectdock but for unix/linux)Easy!
-Create or take from web mac os x theme
-Make something like objectbar to function as the the bar with apple (We may use pear for example), File edit help, etc... (I saw the similar option with one of KDE styles) It would be easy to make it function as close to macs one.
-Set icons/cursors/maybe sounds like in mac os x (easy)
-Modify kde aplications to look like Mac os x ones or create new ones. (I saw avefontbook and other mac os utilities written by fans
for windows that do a REAL job - No problem creating similar ones for unix).
-Create a few scrips maybe
-Create a folder "Applications"
Put in it our "mac os" utilities there (some kde - mac os skined apps also.) Like for example: Text editor, music player, help manager, etc...
-Macs can read text aloud - Unix also can (there are a lots of those apps for unix - for example festival. We just need to configure it to read text from our Text Editor)
-Add some simple dialogs/warnings/notifications in style of mac os x

After that, add a nice setup and a few graphical utilities (Make our os simple to use) - maybe someone from freeBSD team would help and voila - we have a mac os x like operating system on our x86 computer.

Benefits:
-native speed
-almost the same as in mac os x look&feel
-fun
-Can read text aloud like mac
-The project can evolwe into a great free system that will be a reflection of mac os x on milions of PC's at home and offices.
[/quote:12130440c3]

Unfortunately, this would certainly incur the instantaneous wrath of apple, since it is their patented software we would be "imitating". To give you an example, ever heard of yzdock? No? Search google for why. When it became good, too good in apple's eyes, they sent a cease and desist.

Michael

[Ribtorus]

That's actually not a bad idea.

But to cap it off, since there is no real "emulation" going on, write a real-time transparent translation/optimisation app that will permit apps written for OSX to run in this new OS.

[Guest]

[quote:ada6f14344]
Unfortunately, this would certainly incur the instantaneous wrath of apple, since it is their patented software we would be "imitating". To give you an example, ever heard of yzdock? No? Search google for why. When it became good, too good in apple's eyes, they sent a cease and desist.
[/quote:ada6f14344]

But some apps with aqua theme are on net. Maybe apple would not get angry if we could use an old theme from let's say Mac os X 10.1.

(If Apple would not still agree we could do it mac os 9 way or create our own icons and theme resembling Mac os X but that would not be EXACTLY the same...)

WindowsBlinds - a commercial program for windows skining has aqua theme and nothing has happened to it...

[Guest]

[quote:a0b9026704]
That's actually not a bad idea.

But to cap it off, since there is no real "emulation" going on, write a real-time transparent translation/optimisation app that will permit apps written for OSX to run in this new OS.
[/quote:a0b9026704]

We could make it run unix executables with a mac os x skin, or write a guide how to create an applications for our system that will look like mac os/will use our widgets.


By the way I read Softpear is working on some kind of thing to run Mac os X apps on x86 linux (Probably by recompilation or something...) This 2 project might connect in one later on.

[Kenta]

[quote="Anonymous":1be92be0e3]
[quote:1be92be0e3]
WindowsBlinds - a commercial program for windows skining has aqua theme and nothing has happened to it...
[/quote:1be92be0e3][/quote:1be92be0e3]

That is protected basicly the same way PearPC is.

That program is not made to replicate anything. The only reason it was made was to give BeOS a custom apperance easily. Then it was made to work on Windows to do the same thing. It has in no way any purpose to give you the mac look unless the person who makes a skin that looks like OS X and the person who installs it on their PC to use.

PearPC will most likely not get sued because we are not an OS X emulator, it's only by choice of the user to emulate it. All PearPC is just a PowerPC emulator. Even if that is Apple's hardware you can still run Linux, BDS, etc. on it.



As for the rest of the topic, Apple would be more enraged with a perfect OS X clone OS than they would be with simulation programs. They would definatly cease and decist this.

Also while this project would emulate the look and feel, it'd barely emulate the experince. OS X is not just a pretty BSD OS, it's a heavily modified Core from BSD that is supported by a series of stron integrigation with applications that make up a very advanced OS.

[PearPCUser]

How and what for? - Mac OS X's GUI history begins with NeXT's NextStep somewhere in 1991. Since then the OS has seen numerous different steps of developement, from NextStep to OpenStep, the architecture change to x86, the acquisition by Apple, Apple's own development "Rapsody" which finally ended up in Mac OS X back on the PPC architecture (Server 1.0, Server 1.1, Public Beta, 1.0, etc. ...). This is an OS that has kept hundreds of engineers busy over the last ten years and assuming you could reengineer such an effort in a couple of month is just - sorry - ridiculous.

And finally: What for? - You would end with a strange FreeBSD-derivate that is neither able to run Mac OS X apps directly without modification nor has a comparable GUI-experience (let us leave out all these horrible WindowBlinds-, StyleXP-, WhatDoIKnow-themes for Windows that only copy some aspects of Mac OS X's look (really badly, by the way) without even touching the "feel" (in other words: The essential usability) of the OS.

By the way: You can already download the Darwin core of Mac OS X for x86 directly from Apple, so building such a project on another FreeBSD-derivate becomes even more bizarre ...

PearPCUser

[prasys]

What for ?..Thats not OSX on x86 , its "FreeBSD (with OSX Coat) , thats all"...

[bot47]

European should do it. There is currently NO PATENT for computerized implementations (how is it called in english?)

[Alex]

I'm european... i can do it then!!