[HN Gopher] A general overview of what happens before main() (2019)
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       A general overview of what happens before main() (2019)
        
       Author : xept
       Score  : 92 points
       Date   : 2022-08-22 19:27 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (embeddedartistry.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (embeddedartistry.com)
        
       | saagarjha wrote:
       | > For example, OS X only has dynamically linked applications
       | 
       | Statically linked code is permissible on Intel.
        
       | wrycoder wrote:
       | previous: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16995811
        
       | chmaynard wrote:
       | A minor quibble: the Mac operating system is no longer called OS
       | X. The name changed to macOS in 2016, to align with the branding
       | of Apple's other operating systems.
        
         | thebitstick wrote:
         | I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring
         | to as macOS, is in fact, Darwin/macOS, or as I've recently
         | taken to calling it, Darwin plus macOS. Darwin is not an
         | operating system unto itself, but rather another free component
         | of a fully functioning Unix system made useful by the BSD
         | corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components
         | comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
         | 
         | Many computer users run a modified version of the Darwin system
         | every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of
         | events, the version of Darwin which is widely used today is
         | often called "macOS", and many of its users are not aware that
         | it is basically the Darwin system, developed by Next Computer.
         | 
         | There really is a macOS, and these people are using it, but it
         | is just a part of the system they use. XNU is the kernel: the
         | program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to
         | the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential
         | part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only
         | function in the context of a complete operating system. Darwin
         | is normally used in combination with the macOS operating
         | system: the whole system is basically Darwin with macOS added,
         | or Darwin/macOS. All the so-called "macOS" versions are really
         | versions of Darwin/macOS.
         | 
         | ---
         | 
         | Apple's engineers still refer to the OS as Mac OS X. Ventura is
         | technically 10.18, despite the 13 major number in their
         | marketing.
        
           | lgg wrote:
           | 13.0 is not just a marketing number. It is the number stamped
           | in the binaries produced with the Ventura SDK. It is the
           | number in Ventura SystemVersion.plist. It is number used in
           | the availability markup in the headers provided by the
           | Ventura SDK. It is the number you use for runtime version
           | checks when you use `#available` in Swift or `@available` in
           | Objective-C. You will not find 10.18 in any of those build or
           | runtime contexts (or anywhere else) because it is not the
           | version number of macOS Ventura.
        
           | chmaynard wrote:
           | Your comment, probably meant as satire, adds nothing of value
           | to the discussion and invites a pointless debate about
           | naming.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | pessimizer wrote:
             | Its parent was even more pedantic.
        
             | jorl17 wrote:
             | It is satire. It is a spin on a famous quote by Richard
             | Matthew Stallman (RMS) about Linux (or "GNU/Linux").
        
             | svnt wrote:
             | I can't tell if you're being intentionally funny or just
             | funny.
        
           | saagarjha wrote:
           | > Apple's engineers still refer to the OS as Mac OS X.
           | Ventura is technically 10.18, despite the 13 major number in
           | their marketing.
           | 
           | No.
        
         | schaefer wrote:
         | That ex X still has us perplexed.
        
         | c1yd3i wrote:
         | I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring
         | to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken
         | to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system
         | unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully
         | functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell
         | utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as
         | defined by POSIX.
         | 
         | Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system
         | every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of
         | events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often
         | called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is
         | basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
         | 
         | There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it
         | is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the
         | program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to
         | the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential
         | part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only
         | function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux
         | is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system:
         | the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or
         | GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really
         | distributions of GNU/Linux.
        
           | wrycoder wrote:
           | If Stallman had not written gcc, gdb, his version of emacs,
           | the basic gnu utils, and, most importantly, the GPL, there
           | would probably be no "Linux". Torvalds would have had to
           | write a complete OS, and he probably would have got a job and
           | a life before he accomplished that.
           | 
           | It's too bad RMS got sidetracked with Hurd. But, the GNU
           | system now runs with several kernels - the Linux kernel is
           | just the most developed and best known one.
        
         | mistrial9 wrote:
         | marketing!
        
       | anthk wrote:
       | "nm" it's your friend here.
        
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       (page generated 2022-08-22 23:00 UTC)