[fbsd_questions] mac and windoze formats

[Chuck Swiger]

On Dec 8, 2010, at 12:12 PM, spellberg_robert wrote:
> premise:
> 
> i was looking at a retail site that is offering
>  a dvd_archive of every issue of a particular magazine back to its beginning, many decades ago
>  [ these have become popular, lately ].

If the archive contains this magazine in a common format like PDF, you can view such under nearly any platform (including FreeBSD).

> usually, i put these things on my windoze_box, until it was no longer new enough.
> then, i looked for linux [ aka, "elf" ] compatability, which also works.

ELF is a binary file format.  It's used by Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and other platforms.

> research:
> 
> now, freebsd handles all sorts of elf; but,
>  mac is not elf, it is derived from mach [ a long_unused word from my youth ].

Yes, MacOS X uses the Mach kernel from CMU, also used by NEXTSTEP.  The binary file format for the Mac is called MachO.

> so, this question is about "emulation".
> i found the section in the faq and in the handbook on elf, but,
>  there is no mention of mac, osx, mach or anything else that is not elf, not even wine.
> i found a recent _questions post that suggested that there is no current ability to run a mach-o binary.  because no one challenged this assertion, i take it as true.

It is.

>  q:    where do things stand regarding
>          the future ability to run either a windoze or mac binary
>          [ as these are the general_public's notion of a "computer" ] ?

You can use emulation software like VMWare 3 to run a Windows environment under FreeBSD; however, that won't let you run MacOS X or Mac programs.

Regards,
-- 
-Chuck