My first interest is in getting Gnome and related programs to work on Mac OS X/Darwin on my G4 Cube. I can see that a lot of work has been done here, some of it in that general direction, but I what i don't see is a plan, or a record of what has been done.
Two things in particular:
First, when running ./configure for some of these tarballs, what options and system description was used (i.e., powerpc-apple-bsd seems likely, but I don't see it specified).
Second, it seems important to me to build shared libraries for the various Gnome components - of all the areas in a system, the GUI seems most likely to have significant code sharing. The tarballs I have looked at so far in your distribution just create static libraries. I worked on zlib (in particular) for several hours until I found a path which produced a .dylib, and I wouldn't have succeeded except for the fact that zlib is actually a Framework in Darwin/Mac OS X already (cc -framework Zip).
I am willing to consider putting in some time on this project, and I appreciate the work that has already gone into it, but I would like to read a little more about the plan.
Thank you,
--Version 6
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I've tried to clarify the configure instructions according to your suggestion. Be sure to check point #1 of the GNU-Darwin porting tips. I've been using these tips to hopefully keep everyone on the same page.
As for GNOME, I think it is a wonderful idea. I made the attempt, but got bogged down because of the problems with the dynamic loader and so on. In order to make progress with the distribution, I have been focusing on GTK apps, attracting the interest of the scientific community, and on getting a coherent porting protocol worked out. If you have any more suggestions for the porting tips page, they would be much appreciated.
The situation with the dynamic loader has improved alot since that time, and anyone who wants to get going with GNOME is welcome to give it another try. I used the resources at GNOME.org to get started. Here is the address.
My first interest is in getting Gnome and related programs to work on Mac OS X/Darwin on my G4 Cube. I can see that a lot of work has been done here, some of it in that general direction, but I what i don't see is a plan, or a record of what has been done.
Two things in particular:
First, when running ./configure for some of these tarballs, what options and system description was used (i.e., powerpc-apple-bsd seems likely, but I don't see it specified).
Second, it seems important to me to build shared libraries for the various Gnome components - of all the areas in a system, the GUI seems most likely to have significant code sharing. The tarballs I have looked at so far in your distribution just create static libraries. I worked on zlib (in particular) for several hours until I found a path which produced a .dylib, and I wouldn't have succeeded except for the fact that zlib is actually a Framework in Darwin/Mac OS X already (cc -framework Zip).
I am willing to consider putting in some time on this project, and I appreciate the work that has already gone into it, but I would like to read a little more about the plan.
Thank you,
--Version 6
You bring up some excellent points. Much of what you are looking for is on the main GNU-Darwin site.
http://gnu-darwin.sourceforge.net
I've tried to clarify the configure instructions according to your suggestion. Be sure to check point #1 of the GNU-Darwin porting tips. I've been using these tips to hopefully keep everyone on the same page.
http://gnu-darwin.sourceforge.net/porting.html
As for GNOME, I think it is a wonderful idea. I made the attempt, but got bogged down because of the problems with the dynamic loader and so on. In order to make progress with the distribution, I have been focusing on GTK apps, attracting the interest of the scientific community, and on getting a coherent porting protocol worked out. If you have any more suggestions for the porting tips page, they would be much appreciated.
The situation with the dynamic loader has improved alot since that time, and anyone who wants to get going with GNOME is welcome to give it another try. I used the resources at GNOME.org to get started. Here is the address.
http://www.gnome.org/start/installing/
I must say that there is a ton of excellent software that depends on GNOME. See for your self.
http://www.gnome.org/applist/list.php3
Anyone who gets GNOME going will be a GNU-Darwin hero! I will happily supercede all of my GNOME packages with those of anyone who gets GNOME working.
Regards,
proclus