“In 1995, when Apple Computer Corp. first solicited the
assistance of the Open Software Foundation to develop a Linux port
for the Mach microkernel server, a project code-named MK Linux,
chances are most company insiders saw it as a relatively benign
experiment. What with the MacOS already moving in a Unix-like
direction, here was a way to beef up corporate credibility within
Unix development circles while at the same time unloading most of
the core-level development for Apple’s next generation MacOS onto
the backs of Linux volunteers.”
“Suffice it to say, it’s only been three short years, and both
Apple insiders and Linux developers are beginning to think
different — er, think differently — about their seemingly
symbiotic relationship.”
“Apple’s primary interest in Linux in general and MK Linux in
particular has always been to encourage a wider variety of
operating systems running on Apple hardware,” says David Gatwood,
development coordinator for the MK Linux project. “As for how Linux
will fit in with the upcoming Mac OS 10, however, that’s where
things become iffy.”