Company goes open source in hopes of rejuvenating developer enthusiasm.
At Internet World in Los Angeles Wednesday, Apple Computer announced the release of Darwin 1.0, the open source kernel for the company's upcoming Mac OS X operating system. The release is Apple's biggest open source commitment to date. Mac OS X, which can be used as a desktop or server operating system and is slated for summer release, will not be open source itself, but its open Darwin kernel will allow developers greater control in modifying and customizing compatible software. The kernel is processor independent, meaning it can run on PowerPC and Intel platforms. Darwin is based on FreeBSD and Mach 3.0 technologies.