Get To Know Mach, the Kernel of Mac OS X

An anonymous reader writes "Linux is a kernel, not an operating system. So what is Mac OS X's kernel? The Mach microkernel. The debate around Monolithic (Linux) and Micro (Mach) kernels continues, and there is a great chapter online about the Mach system from the very good book 'Operating System Concepts'. Which design is better? I report, you decide." Warning: link is to a PDF.

This is a tough fight

[Anonymous Coward]

The apple metrosexuals vs the greasy bearded GNU/linux hippies! Who will win!

commence the horse beating

[hector_uk]

commence the dead horse beating. i start : mach owns.

That's the reason Apple's come in those colours...

[Anonymous Coward]

So people can do the

You got a light Mac?
No, but I've got dark brown NeXT machine.

joke.

Why warn us? Super Slashdot Effect

[licamell]

Warning: link is to a PDF"

Um, if you want to warn anyone maybe you should warn the sys admin of the server that hosts the PDF file that you just put a link to on the main page of slashdot. I think they'll care a little more about the super slashdot effect (I'm coining that term for when a non-html file is linked to from slashdot - be it pdf, mpg, avi, etc.) than we will about taking the extra time to load.

Here's an idea for some news -

[Kipsaysso]

Let's ask what OS is better. The Apple and Linux people will go at each others throats and will in the end agree that they hate Window$.

Smucks.

Re:MirrorDot

[Milo of Kroton]

Why is .pdf matter? Does not the American Slashdotter not read the article, true?

Ahhh!! Nachos!!!

[LanMan04]

*Commence horrible flashback to "OS Design" class as an undergrad*...

Great OS Book - but what's Steve up to now?

[kriegsman]

Operating System Concepts is a great book for learning about what an OS is and the design choices that go into building one. We used that book way back in my college days, and it's one of the few textbooks I actually kept. Here's an excerpt from the (linked PDF) chapter on Mach:

Mach 2.5 is also the basis for the operating system on the NeXT workstation, the brainchild of Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer fame.

So... does anyone here know what Steve Jobs and Mach have been up to since their halcyon days at NeXT?

Re:commence the horse beating

[skraps]

Bottom line, Mach is the most advanced manual shaving system in the world. The Mach3 Turbo is the world's first triple-blade razor, with three blades positioned independently to shave you progressively closer in a single stroke.

Right tool for the job

[aardwolf64]

use the right tool for the job, be that Linux, mac, windows, whatever

Yes. For instance, if you're wanting to test out the effects of the latest greatest spyware, use Windows and IE to do anything on the Internet.

This article is troll.

[Anonymous Coward]

Period.

Re:Debate? what debate?

[Slashcrap]

There is no debate. It has been well accepted that micro-kernels are the way to go.

Which is why nowadays it's impossible to find a widely used OS that isn't based on a microkernel!

Re:qnx does just fine with a u-kernel and message

[fistfullast33l]

Andrew Tenenbaum, is that you?

Re:This is a tough fight

[Creepy Crawler]

Who will Win?!?!

Tune in next week to the same article (poasted at a later dupe-date for your conveinance) and FIND OUT!

We're also to believe that the Apple Metrosexuals plan to use a hypnotizing-GayRay against the dirty hippies!

SAME TIME SAME CHANNEL!

Let's secretly watch

[Anonymous Coward]

as we switch Steve Job's kernel beans with new Roaster's Light Linux Beans.

Now, let's see if he notices!

Re:RMS, Is That You?

[cold fjord]

Should start saying Apple/Mach now?

I don't think that is needed since more than enough people mock Apple already.

Re:commence the horse beating

[Anonymous Coward]

What?

It becomes a chocolate credit card?

Confused am I . . .

[gmby]

"Linux is a kernel, not an operating system....."
Then what is the name of the OS?
Is it Redhat, Debian, Mandrake; I thought those were distributions?
Is it GNU? or maybe GNU/Linux? HURD?
GNOME? KDE? - Desktops?
It's not UNIX! Or is it? SCO was right?!! ahhh!$@$#

I KNOW! IT'S TUX!

YEAH! That's the ticket! It's TUX!

TUX Rocks!
TUX Rolls!
TUX Rules!

http://www.tux.org/ [tux.org]

Re:Let's secretly watch

[catdevnull]

Dude. You get catdevnull's unoffical "Funny" mod + 5 of the day.

Re:commence the horse beating

[JabberWokky]

I believe you're thinking of the M3 Power. If you're getting electric pulses off the M3 Turbo, you're standing in a puddle in your bathroom and you have a bad ground to your electrical outlet.

--
Evan

an old joke...

[rplacd]

"Mach was the greatest intellectual fraud in the last ten years."
"What about X?"
"I said `intellectual'."
;login [usenix.org], 9/1990

Re:commence the horse beating

[henrywood]

Not many of us even get a chance to pleasure the world's finest lady.

Re:Great OS Book - but what's Steve up to now?

[Chucker23N]

I hear he sells songs and music players for some coke company. ;-)

Re:Xnu, not mach

[say__10]

Xnu... Xenu... I knew it, all hail our scientologist overlords! Lord Cruise and Travolta shall rule the lands!

Re:Ahhh!! Nachos!!!

[Laxitive]

WHY? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO REMIND ME?

The therapy was working.. I had almost blotted out the existence of Nachos altogether. Now it's all coming back. Why do you feel the need to hurt me so? *sob*

-Laxitive

Re:L4 performance?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, Apple should totally follow the direction of HURD, as they are truly pioneers in not-releasing useable software, from which Apple could learn a lot from.

Re:This is a tough fight

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&wo rd1=apple+metrosexuals&word2=greasy+bearded+GNU%2F linux+hippies [googlefight.com]

Those limp wristed apple metrosexuals one!!!

Re:commence the horse beating

[paladin_tom]

No, take my pants off and you have the world's finest lady-pleasuring device.

Trust me, it works.

Re:commence the horse beating

[JabberWokky]

Just because they are screaming doesn't mean it is from extacy. ;)

--
Evan

Re:Here's an idea for some news -

[Yaztromo]

Let's ask what OS is better. The Apple and Linux people will go at each others throats and will in the end agree that they hate Window$.

I, for one, envision a different outcome. One which is more fair to everyone involved:

"Well ladies and gentlemen, I don't think any of our contestants this evening have succeeded in encapsulating the intricacies of kernel design, so I'm going to award the first prize this evening to the girl with the biggest tits."

Yaz.

Re:commence the horse beating

[Howski]

No, take my pants off and you have the world's finest lady-pleasuring device.

Speaking of dead horse beating...

Re:They're both better!

[John Newman]

What's better? PHP or Python?

Perl.

Re:Mono / Micro

[MasonMcD]

Linux is in spirit a monolithic design, and MacOS is in spirit a mach-based microkernel design.

More like Linux is like a farming co-op, XNU is Monsanto.

Or, maybe Linux is like a monkey with a spanner, and XNU is like a komodo dragon with a toothache.

No, wait. Linux is like a pulmonary thrombosis! and XNU is the dropped sponge in a gastric bypass!

Damn! OK! I admit it! My analogies have fallen, and they can't get up.

I will now explain the difference with an interpretive dance, perhaps some origami.

Re:commence the horse beating

[FlyingPostman]

Shave her first, and then take the blade off. Now were talking.

Re:They're both better!

[Anonymous Coward]

Always nice to see an exception to "It's funny because it's true".