Darwin Server

You probably don't want to read about today's debugging exploits — how I managed to track down a couple of un-implemented methods using the power of the printf(), how I finally twigged that I'd only need the two OS X frameworks to get gdb working in PureDarwinXmas, and how I eventually discovered that most of dscl's problems were caused by the memory PureFoundation was allocating for objects not being zeroed — so I though I'd just quickly tap out a few lines about where I see Darwin going.

(Of course, these won't include any of my super-secret plans. For those you'll have to wait a little while longer.)

I think you can guess from this post's title the direction I think that Darwin should be headed. It's not that I've got anything against it becoming a GUIed desktop system, it's just that I don't think there will be much demand for it. Remember that we already have a class-leading desktop OS built on top of Darwin. This leaves us in an awkward position: do we go down the Unix/Linux route, slap on the Gnome desktop and get lost in the crowd? Or do we try and emulate OS X — possibly by using code from Cocotron — with predictable sub-par results? Personally, I'm happy to let others decide. My interest lies elsewhere.

I think the idea of a version of Darwin which can be installed on (the way driver support is going, a narrow sub-set of) generic server PCs is a very compelling prospect, and may offer a feasible alternative to Linux in the web server space. A good number of web site designers and web app developers already use Macs as their primary machines. And while they run all the same software as your typical Linux machine (Apache, PHP, Ruby, Python, [insert your favourite web stack here]), I know from bitter experience that there are enough subtle gotchas to make deployment from OS X, at least on the first try — shall we say — interesting.

One question which is always hanging in the air in situations like this is "How does this mesh with Apple's plans?" — accompanied by the unspoken "And how quickly will they shut us down if they don't approve?" I won't go so far as to argue that a commoditised Darwin server would be good for Apple and therefore they should embrace it with open funding, but I will say that they shouldn't feel threatened by it. An open server built on Darwin is likely to appeal to sectors such as discount web hosting — the typical $9.99 per month virtual private servers on shared boxes type of arrangement — where XServes or even OS X Server under virtualisation were never going to be an option.

I think the PureDarwin boys are getting ready to put out another build, which will mark the next step on the road towards this bright future of Darwin on everything.