Would be nice to have a screenshot in the overview page
RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
11–20 of 148 posts
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#12[flagged]
I've always been shocked by the lengths of time people will commit to proving wrong the folks who tell them "you can't do that."
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#13>but we're not a fan of the ever-closing hardware and ecosystem What has changed about Apple's ecosystem vis a vis openness, hardware, or the 'ecosystem'? The macOS ecosystem is pretty much the same as it has been since 1997
a lot of the kernel extensions are closed source proprietary. The core is still open but a lot of what makes modern Mac, Mac, are those kexts.
how has that changed over the past 20 years? the proprietary parts of Mac OS X and now macOS have been proprietary from the beginning
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#14Related. Others?
New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45997212 - Nov 2025 (165 comments)
RavynOS Finesse of macOS. Freedom of FreeBSD - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38485596 - Dec 2023 (176 comments)
RavynOS – Finesse of macOS, freedom of FreeBSD - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32492514 - Aug 2022 (366 comments)
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
a lot of the kernel extensions are closed source proprietary. The core is still open but a lot of what makes modern Mac, Mac, are those kexts.
how has that changed over the past 20 years? the proprietary parts of Mac OS X and now macOS have been proprietary from the beginning
There used to be a bootable Darwin instance that Apple published, which on paper would've made things a bit easier, but they stopped publishing it a while ago. It never resulted in any serious OS with a UI however.
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#16>but we're not a fan of the ever-closing hardware and ecosystem What has changed about Apple's ecosystem vis a vis openness, hardware, or the 'ecosystem'? The macOS ecosystem is pretty much the same as it has been since 1997
a lot of the kernel extensions are closed source proprietary. The core is still open but a lot of what makes modern Mac, Mac, are those kexts.
By referencing the 90s it is a reminder that Mac started on an entirely closed source kernel. It's a regression towards the Mac mean more than a regression away from it.
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#17[flagged]
> when you could run Darwin
That's what this is. Darwin isn't installable today. Apple just dumps a bunch of source code. Previous attempts at making Darwin bootable didn't go far and had no GUI.
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#18[flagged]
why do anything? why Linux? why FreeBSD? why Mac at all? Why build your own wind turbine when corporations make large ones? Why build a cyclekart when you own a car? Why workout when everyone's going to die? With that mindset, everything is useless and nothing has a point. Have I made my point?
> Why workout when everyone's going to die?
I regret to actually say this, and mean no controversy - but, I have been actually asking myself just that - and, not in the "workout or not" sense, alone. In the "does anything have a point", way. Apologies.-
PS. To indeed contribute something: I am a big fan of the "doing things because of the joy of doing things" itself theory of it all, which is, seemingly, an antidote.-
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
why do anything? why Linux? why FreeBSD? why Mac at all? Why build your own wind turbine when corporations make large ones? Why build a cyclekart when you own a car? Why workout when everyone's going to die? With that mindset, everything is useless and nothing has a point. Have I made my point?
> Why workout when everyone's going to die? I regret to actually say this, and mean no controversy - but, I have been actually asking myself just that - and, not in the "workout or not" sense, alone. In the "does anything have a point", way. Apologies.- PS. To indeed contribute something : I am a big fan of the "doing things because of the joy of doing things" itself theory of it all, which is, seemingly, an antidote…
In general, things have meaning because people assign meanings to them. Nothing inherently has meaning as meaning exists only within the human mind/soul. If you are searching for meaning, you will find nothing.
Re: RavynOS: Pre-alpha open-source OS based on Darwin, FreeBSD, Apple open-source
#20[flagged]
> when you could run Darwin That's what this is. Darwin isn't installable today. Apple just dumps a bunch of source code. Previous attempts at making Darwin bootable didn't go far and had no GUI.
Four years and still pre-alpha. Stick a fork in it.
There's also PureDarwin (?) which had been around forever but last I recall the lone developer was seriously ill and the project was not receiving help. I don't see how this would be any different.
To everyone here cheering this on: when will you be contributing? Or are you just waiting to download it, run it once for the lulz, and drag it to the Trash?