On Tue, 10 May 1994, Edward Wolpert wrote:

> Judging from the letter you included... I don't know how much those folks
> really know about the UNIX system... They suggested that it may be possible
> to have linux and their PPC UNIX binary compatable... that's just not
> possible at all.  Period.  The processor's are different, etc... I wish them
> luck, and hope it works out for the best.  Also, I'm wondering how they are
> compiling gcc?  Using MachTen?  Something just doesn't make sense.. Is the
> PPC mac open hardware arch?  Did they sign a non-disclousre agreement, and
> apple gave the hardware specs?  Any ideas on to what they are doing on the
> PPC makes this process easier that the Mac68k?  Something just doesn't seem
> right to me, but I hope they prove my fears wrong.
> 
> 		Virtually,
> 		Edward Wolpert
> 

:It is, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this project to make our 
:implementation of Unix compatible on a binary level with Linux. However, 
:one of the keys to the success of Unix in general is its high level of 
:source-code compatibility, and we plan to make this implementation as 
:close as possible to a Linux implementation from a source-code 
:standpoint so that source code that compiles on one platform will 
:compile on the other platform without any modification. 

I think what they are trying to say is that it is impossible, but that 
the source is compatable, thus allowing compiliation on the PMac 
platform.  What exactly does a not disclosure agreement limit a person 
to?  Also I think that if you wan't to find out more you might want to 
follow the thread on comp.sys.powerpc or comp.os.linux.*.  What would 
happen if the NetBSD_Mac team would sign a now disclosure agreement.  I 
assume that there are valid reasons for not doing it, but curiosity just 
overwhelms me.

Peter Siebold



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