"After studying Apple's new source code license, the APSL, I have concluded that it falls short of being a free software license. It has three fatal flaws, any of which would be sufficient to make the software less than free."

As we look at Mac OS X in general, and Darwin in particular, I think we begin to see a trend. So much of Mac OS X is based on open source technology, like BSD for example, that Apple may finally have found the magic formula of open and proprietary ingredients to broaden its following of cutting-edge developers.

Apple has finally decided to follow the spirit of the open source development model fully, and modified its own Apple Public Source Licence to eliminate many of the restrictions that so annoyed the open source community.

Apple has finally decided to follow the spirit of the open source development model fully, and modified its own Apple Public Source Licence to eliminate many of the restrictions that so annoyed the open source community.

There's something weird yet pleasing about seeing a command-line interface on an iMac. It seems so wrong, and at the same time so right. And it's never been easier to get; all you have to do is install Darwin, the BSD derivative that underpins Apple's forthcoming MacOS X.

I can't help but feel that Darwin is getting the short end of the stick from all sides. Everyone is so captivated by Aqua et al that the open source project that could really use some more energy is being starved of it.

The Mac press is spreading FUD on the subject of Mac OS X. Members of the PC press seem enthusiastic about the OS, and isn't that exactly what Mac supporters have been waiting for? But as soon as PCers start gushing about it and Apple seems to be looked at with renewed interest from the real world, then the Mac Press starts dumping on OS X with uninformed and sometimes just plain unresearched nonsense.

Apple has quietly updated its open source operating system foundation, Darwin, to version 1.2.1, and it appears to come with a plea for more work on the x86 side of things.

Apple has quietly updated its open source operating system foundation, Darwin, to version 1.2.1, and it appears to come with a plea for more work on the x86 side of things.