Enabling Linux Binary Compatibility using Darwin

[dot.this]

I need someone familiar with both freeBSD and Darwin to answer me a question:

I'm a Mac OS X user with Xdarwin. (Xwindows for Darwin.) I'm interested in enabling Linux Binary Compatibility to help run Linux apps under Xwindows. I know that in freeBSD, you must add the line "linux_enable=YES" to /etc/rc.conf to enable Linux binary compatibility, but OS X doesn't have an rc.conf file.

Is Linux compatibility enabled by default with Dawin, or do I need to modify another file, like rc.boot? Recompiling the kernel is obviously not an option. Well, I could recompile GNU-Darwin, but let's not go there...

[choasforages]

err, it sounds like you want to run x86 stuff under ppc darwin. bochs might help you with that.

[dot.this]

That's exactly right. I've got a setup of Xfree86, Xdarwin, and OroborOSX, and it's basically an Xwindows environment on top of Darwin.

Right now, I'm downloading and installing all the various libraries I need. Eventually, I'll run MacGIMP and some or all of OpenOffice. I'm also interested in running some Linux programs, and that's where the Binary Compatibility comes in.

[choasforages]

err, whitch linux programs? most are source based

[hm_murdock]

PPC processors can natively emulate x8 code, which makes binary compatibility more possible. But I think that the apps would need a recompile anyway. I think the best binary compatibility you'll get is between Mac OS X and PPC Linux, not x86 Linux.

[dot.this]

I have no problem with compiling; the OS X Developer Tools disk provides all the necessities. Just open the terminal, cd to the source directory, and enter ./configure ppc, make, and make install. Pretty simple, really.

Binaries are also an option. PPC ones of course, which is a hassle because there are so many x86 binaries to wade through until I find the PPC ones.

As far as I can tell, the best compatibility is actually with freeBSD, because the kernels are so similar. So I always look for freeBSD sources first. It's just that there are tons more apps available for Linux, and I'd like to be able to use them.

[choasforages]

aslong as the sourcecode doesn't have any endian issues, and is posix compliant or close, it should just compile on darwin or whatever.

[xyle_one]

now, could i apply this same thing to a driver. the driver for the sound blaster live works real well under linux, and since no one is going to develop a driver for osx, maybe i could get the linux one to work under osX???
*note: there is someone developing drivers for osX (Brian Sounder), its just not moving along as quickly as i had hoped. i have had this card just sitting there for like 6 months...
anyways, just a thought.