Last Updated on: 9th December 2024, 11:10 am
Web site: opensource.apple.com
Origin: USA
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: CLI
Architecture: x86_64, arm64
Based on: BSD
Wikipedia: Darwin
Media: Install
The last version | Released: active
Darwin – the Unix-like foundation of Apple Inc.’s macOS operating system. It is in fact a full operating system, on which the Aqua graphical user environment is based.
Darwin is a combination of the Mach-3 (XNU) microkernel and tools and services from FreeBSD and NetBSD, originating in 4.4BSD. Thus, Darwin’s roots go back to the historical Unix. One of Darwin’s lead developers, Avie Tevanian, was a co-creator of the original Mach kernel developed at Carnegie-Mellon University.
The Darwin code is freely available under the Apple Public Source License and is developed by the Apple-based developer community. There is also a fully compatible version called GNU-Darwin, developed under the auspices of the GNU project.
There are currently ports for the PowerPC and IA-32 architectures. The former is the main and basic one, Apple is currently developing a new version for 64-bit processors.
