gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) (10/29/88)
It is possible for anyone to read 'Inside Mac' and write code that
implements that interface, on any machine. I'm sure Apple would
seriously consider suing them, whether the suit was justified or not,
but that's just asshole Apple.
The above would let source code for Mac programs be compiled and linked
with this library, to run on any machine. This would help developers
port their programs, but what most people would want is the ability to
run Mac binaries for which no sources are available. That requires a
bit more work, setting up an environment that looks like the memory
space of a Mac, reading the program into it, and tying the interfaces
together, but it's doable. Note that it requires a 68xxx family CPU
too, which the above doesn't.
Unless Jobs is particularly vindictive, I doubt that the NeXT is more
likely to be the first with a MacOS clone than any other machine.
I know someone who has done part of the 'source compatible' step
above, and demonstrated it running a simple Mac program on my Sun-3.
If you are seriously interested in developing such a capability,
get in touch with me and I'll pass you on to him.
[The Ataris that run Mac programs have a physical (Apple copyrighted)
Mac ROM chip in them. That's a whole 'nother approach that I won't
go into.]
--
John Gilmore {sun,pacbell,uunet,pyramid,amdahl}!hoptoad!gnu gnu@toad.com
Noriega-Bush in '88 -- a *crack* team.
Let's put the white powder (CIA = Cocaine Import Agency) in the white house!rang@cpsin3.cps.msu.edu (Anton Rang) (10/29/88)
In article <5782@hoptoad.uucp>, John Gilmore (gnu@hoptoad.uucp) writes: >It is possible for anyone to read 'Inside Mac' and write code that >implements that interface, on any machine. I'm sure Apple would >seriously consider suing them, whether the suit was justified or not, >but that's just asshole Apple. Hmm...now I'm curious. What are the limits on copyrights, patents, trademarks (well, they're legal) etc.? Is it possible to copyright: (1) A "programming language" (say, for a database's query language). (2) A library module (yes, right?). (3) The interface to a library module. (4) The *documentation* of the interface. What's the difference between a "user interface" and a "program interface" except for how visible they are? Thoughts, anyone? +---------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ | Anton Rang (grad student) | "UNIX: Just Say No!" | "Do worry...be SAD!" | | Michigan State University | rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu | | +---------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+