Menu
In Python, when I type sys.platform on the Mac OS X the output is "darwin"? Why is this so?
481
But why do the macOS versions of apps carry this name? Because macOS is, along with iOS and tvOS, powered by a piece of open source, BSD-based software called Darwin. Like many open source operating systems, Darwin even has a mascot: Hexley the Platypus.
It was originally released in March 1999, and currently runs on PowerPC-based Macintosh computers, as well as Intel-compatible platforms. Darwin forms the core of Mac OS X, and most software written for it should be able to run unchanged in Mac OS X.
Darwin is the core upon which macOS (previously Mac OS X, and OS X) runs on. It is derived from NextSTEP, which itself is built upon a BSD and Mach core, but Darwin is the open source portion of macOS.
Darwin forms the core set of components upon which Mac OS X and iOS are based. Even the OS X platform itself reports itself as "Darwin" when you ask it: $ uname Darwin. Python merely uses that same platform identifier.
Because the core of Mac OS X is the Darwin OS.
Quoting from the linked WikiPedia page:
Darwin forms the core set of components upon which Mac OS X and iOS are based.
Even the OS X platform itself reports itself as "Darwin" when you ask it:
$ uname Darwin Python merely uses that same platform identifier.
71
To expand on the other answers: Darwin is the part of OS X that is the actual operating system, in a stricter sense of that term.
To give an analogy, Darwin would be the equivalent of Linux - or Linux and the GNU utilities - while Mac OS X would be the equivalent of Ubuntu or another distribution. I.e. a kernel, the basic userspace utilities, and a GUI layer and a bunch of "built-in" applications.
23
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
