Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#41

Post by imoverclocked » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:35 PM UTC

vlad_kalinkin wrote: post #2

Hi HN, I started developing an experimental project with the goal of running macOS CLI binaries natively on Linux ARM machines. As of now, we have working prototypes for: - 7-Zip: Passes multi-threaded compression tests on an 8k-file tree. Currently ~5.2x slower than native Linux execution, but I already mapped out a clear optimization plan to cut this gap down. - curl: Over 200 commands and options successfully pass…

Do you plan on supporting different target versions and implementing similar restrictions to those targets?

eg: older macOS had a writable /usr/ while newer does not without manual effort.

Also, do you plan on having similar cli tools available with similar features ported (maybe from the available Darwin sources?)

eg: can I run a /bin/bash script that expects a macOS environment? Will it get "Darwin" from "uname -o"

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#42

Post by frumplestlatz » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:41 PM UTC

vlad_kalinkin wrote: post #24

iwontberude wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it’s an endlessly moving target, look at how many apps break every major release (and use it to justify regular, expensive paid upgrades)

That's true. But if we can achieve support for the current stable version, it will be much easier to add new features later or rework the ones that were replaced (unless Apple changes everything on purpose :)

Historically, I’d say that the chances of this being successful are exceptionally low given how large the ABI surface is — and it will wildly change out from underneath you on a near yearly cadence.

Perhaps LLMs change that calculation. I really couldn’t say.

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#43

Post by claiir » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:53 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#44

Post by saurik » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 10:16 PM UTC

vlad_kalinkin wrote: post #32

13rac1 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW Darling runs in userspace too. What do you mean by "proprietary components"?

Thanks! What I meant is that Kakehashi doesn't require a custom Linux kernel module (LKM). Kakehashi operates completely without root privileges or kernel-level modifications. By "proprietary components," I meant that in my prompts, I explicitly forbade the copying or direct implementation of private Apple code. Of course, since LLMs are a bit of a black box, it's hard to be 100% certain about everything it synthesiz…

Darling stopped using the kernel module a year ago.

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#45

Post by eddysin » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 10:34 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#46

Post by cromka » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC

claiir wrote: post #43

[flagged]

Are there any obvious mistakes? Because the way I see it, AI can and the most models actually do write better READMEs than most people ever cared.

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#47

Post by ethin » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 12:50 AM UTC

vlad_kalinkin wrote: post #19

StilesCrisis wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you eventually plan to target binaries that don't already exist on Linux? Where do you think you'll start?

Well, of course, most of all I would like to achieve full-fledged support for Xcode Tools (including building iOS applications) and the macOS version of Homebrew. But, of course, there is still a lot of work ahead to get to this point. Thank you!

I would look at osxcross[0] if you haven't looked into it already. It can at least do the "build stuff targeting macos" part (well, relatively speaking). Swift support kinda breaks down, unfortunately, and actually getting it set up is a bit of a hassle. but it does work.

[0]: https://github.com/tpoechtrager/osxcross

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#48

Post by doctorpangloss » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 1:04 AM UTC

ZiiS wrote: post #40

13rac1 wrote: post #5

Interesting project! A long term vision for MacOS applications is feasible given the success of WINE/Proton with Windows applications. Are you familiar with the Darling project? https://github.com/darlinghq/darling There's an open PR for ARM64 support https://github.com/darlinghq/darling/pull/1753 Could you combine efforts or do your goals differ too much?

Wine got a lot of support from games, even today productivity apps are often much less supported.

Yeah.. just give me a thing I double click that starts After Effects and Excel.

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#49

Post by idieifkiwdu » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

Really cool project, but honest question though: why do people tend to name these projects so horribly? I know software engineers aren’t actually known for their creative acuity when it comes to naming, but damn, Kakehashi is just bad.

Re: Show HN: Kakehashi – Experimental userspace to run macOS binaries on Linux ARM

#50

Post by misnome » Mon, Aug 03, 2026, 1:29 AM UTC

idieifkiwdu wrote: post #49

Really cool project, but honest question though: why do people tend to name these projects so horribly? I know software engineers aren’t actually known for their creative acuity when it comes to naming, but damn, Kakehashi is just bad.

Do names have to be English?