Why isn't it possible to run Mac software?

Question

I wonder why there isn't any equivalent of Wine for running Mac software on Ubuntu. Thoughts?

This answer is far too tautological to post as an actual answer so I'll post it here: There is no Wine equivalent for running Mac software because nobody has created a Wine equivalent for running Mac software. — dv3500ea, Jun 22 '11 at 18:52
Ok, and you should answer that on the answer box. I didn't knew that. But anyway, thnx. — Jorge Pinho, Jun 22 '11 at 18:56
you can run stuff that are universe, like htop stuff that only runs in a terminal. — Alvar, Jun 22 '11 at 21:48

score 31 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 18 '12 at 00:42

31

The best we got was an attempt in 2007-ish called mac on linux as a virtualization tool to run Mac OS.

If there was ever a need to built a wine version for Mac (would that be called mine?) it probably would have been created by someone already. I doubt someone could not make it but I guess that

there is not enough software that is Mac-only to make it worth while.
too few Linux users care for Mac software.

Basically there seems no need for it.

1 more issue: you are not allowed to run Mac OS software legally on non Apple hardware. Someone who creates it will get sued in an instant and no one will be able to ship it with their OS.

Edit: http://opensource.apple.com/ provides the iOS and Mac OS kernels, which are licensed under free software licenses (it is legal to run on your non-Apple, since otherwise it would be non-free). Basically it is illegal to run the Mac OS itself on non-Apple hardware, but legal to run software based on Mac OS on non-Apple hardware.

edited Jun 18 '12 at 00:42

ThePiercingPrince

688

answered Jun 22 '11 at 19:14

Rinzwind

299,756

In contrast, there are lots of Windows-only or Windows and Mac software, and most Linux users want to use Windows software. – ThePiercingPrince Jun 20 '12 at 07:46
In some fields (e.g. graphics, advertising, authors) domain experts insist that the single best tool are (only) available on Mac. So while it's probably true that most techie types (who would go ahead and build an emulator) won't care for Mac software in the same way they do for Windows (let's face it: it's mostly about the games!), there is a need. – Raphael Jan 19 '17 at 07:20
"there is not enough software that is Mac-only to make it worth while", there may not be many, but some of those few are highly desirable,. Example: Sequel Pro. – Majid Fouladpour Apr 13 '18 at 04:34

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 06 '14 at 15:47

11

Now, there's 'Darling':

In it's early stages, but it works.

edited Nov 06 '14 at 15:47

blade19899

26,704

answered Oct 15 '13 at 02:16

Bob

111

1

and the second link is dead ;) – MaKaNu Oct 29 '21 at 14:48

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 05 '16 at 19:01

0

There is a translation layer of OS X in linux:

https://www.darlinghq.org/

Unfortunately it can only run terminal programs at the moment and maybe GUI will be in the future.

answered Jul 05 '16 at 19:01

Mike

51

2018... some news here? – Peter Krauss Oct 30 '18 at 16:04

Why isn't it possible to run Mac software?

3 Answers3

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