[comp.sys.sun] Macintosh emulator for the SUN3

henry@uunet.uu.net (04/26/89)

>Has anyone come up with the idea of writing a Macintosh emulator for the
>SUN3. It shouldn't be too difficult since the CPU is the same...

The big problem is that to be useful to Mac programs, you must duplicate
the support software in Apple's ROMs.  From scratch, not by copying the
ones out of a Mac -- doing it by copying is a copyright violation, and
Apple will get you for that.  This is not a small job.

	Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
	uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu

rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu (Anton Rang) (05/06/89)

In article <8904080313.AA29835@uunet.UU.NET> attcan!utzoo!henry@uunet.uu.net writes:

   [ Question about a Mac emulator for Suns deleted ]

   The big problem is that to be useful to Mac programs, you must duplicate
   the support software in Apple's ROMs.  From scratch, not by copying the
   ones out of a Mac -- doing it by copying is a copyright violation, and
   Apple will get you for that.  This is not a small job.

Also, note that several of the algorithms Apple uses (in particular for
"region" manipulation) are patented, and thus using equivalent algorithms
is (probably) a violation of patent law.  You'd have to figure out your
own ways to handle QuickDraw, in essence.

+---------------------------+------------------------+
| Anton Rang (grad student) | "VMS Forever!"         |
| Michigan State University | rang@cpswh.cps.msu.edu |
+---------------------------+------------------------+