Gentoo/Alt is a
Gentoo LinuxGentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
project created to manage porting the
PortagePortage is a package management system used by Gentoo Linux, based on the concept of ports collections. Gentoo is sometimes referred to as a meta-distribution due to the extreme flexibility of Portage, which makes it operating-system-independent. The Gentoo/Alt project is concerned with using...
framework and other features to other
operating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, such as
Mac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and the
freeFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
BSDs. Gentoo/Alt was set up by
Pieter Van den AbeelePieter Van den Abeele is a computer programmer, and the founder of the PowerPC-version of Gentoo Linux, a foundation connected with a distribution of the Linux computer operating system...
and
Daniel RobbinsDaniel Robbins is a computer programmer and consultant best known as the founder and former chief architect of the Gentoo Linux project. In 2008, he launched the Funtoo project, a free GNU/Linux distribution based on Gentoo, and is the project's lead hacker and organizer...
after Pieter Van den Abeele founded Gentoo for Mac OS X.
Gentoo for Mac OS X
Gentoo for
Mac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
was the first non-Linux project of Gentoo and focused on making the Gentoo experience available on Apple's operating system by introducing the Portage system as a separate entity. This was roughly similar to
FinkThe Fink project is an effort to port and package open-source Unix programs to Mac OS X. Fink uses dpkg and APT , as well as its own frontend program, fink ....
and
MacPortsMacPorts, formerly called DarwinPorts, is a package management system that simplifies the installation of software on the Mac OS X and Darwin operating systems. It is a free/open source software project to simplify installation of other free/open source software...
, but it used Portage instead of a Debian-like or Ports-like system. Later on, Gentoo for Mac OS X was made a subproject of Gentoo/Alt. Currently, the project is no longer active, because its prime assumption of using and not modifying the host OS appeared not to be realistic and eventually broke most packages or made them hardly maintainable. Gentoo for Mac OS X has been superseded by Gentoo Prefix, which is currently what Gentoo offers to Mac OS X users.
Gentoo/*BSD
Gentoo/*BSD is a subproject which covers ports to BSD-derived operating systems. Currently it consists of three sections: Gentoo/
FreeBSDFreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
, Gentoo/
NetBSDNetBSD is a freely available open source version of the Berkeley Software Distribution Unix operating system. It was the second open source BSD descendant to be formally released, after 386BSD, and continues to be actively developed. The NetBSD project is primarily focused on high quality design,...
and Gentoo/
OpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
. The Gentoo/*BSD project is an umbrella to better classify these three subprojects, which often have a lot of similar issues: in practice, most of the decision-making and development is handled in the Gentoo/Alt project or in the subprojects themselves.
Gentoo/FreeBSD
Gentoo/FreeBSD is a
Unix-likeA Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
operating system developed by Gentoo Linux developers in order to bring Gentoo Linux design principles such as Portage and the Gentoo Linux baselayout to the FreeBSD operating system.
Gentoo/NetBSD
Gentoo/NetBSD is a project to provide a
GNUGNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
userland managed by Portage with a NetBSD kernel. The project was started by Damian Florczyk. Currently only the x86 architecture is targeted and the system as a whole is in an incomplete state.
Gentoo/OpenBSD
Gentoo/OpenBSD is a Gentoo/*BSD subproject to port Gentoo features such as Portage to the
OpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
operating system. It was originally started by Grant Goodyear and is currently on development hiatus. An
ISO imageAn ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
based on
OpenBSDOpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995...
3.8 is currently maintained by Karol Pasternak and can be downloaded from the project's web site.
Gentoo/DragonFlyBSD
Gentoo/DragonFlyBSD is a currently unofficial port to the DragonFlyBSD kernel. The project is developed by Robert Sebastian Gerus.
Gentoo GNU Hurd
An unofficial port to
GNU HurdGNU Hurd is a free software Unix-like replacement for the Unix kernel, released under the GNU General Public License. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation...
was also being developed, but was abandoned in late 2006.
Gentoo Prefix
The youngest member of Gentoo/Alt is the Gentoo Prefix project. It emerged from the Gentoo for Mac OS X project, which suffered from multiple practical problems initially.
The core principle of Gentoo Prefix is that installation of packages by Portage are done in an offset, thereby leaving the host OS unmodified. As a side effect, administrative privileges are not required.
Interix
Gentoo/Interix (eprefix) is a port of Gentoo that runs atop the
InterixInterix is the name of an optional, full-featured POSIX and Unix environment subsystem for Microsoft's Windows NT-based operating systems.Interix is a component of the Services for Unix release 3.0 and 3.5...
Subsystem for Windows which is also known as
Microsoft Windows Services for UNIXWindows Services for UNIX or Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications is a software package produced by Microsoft which provides a Unix subsystem and other parts of a full Unix environment on Windows NT and some of its immediate successor operating-systems...
(SFU) or Subsystem for Unix-based Applications (SUA).
A result of the Gentoo/Interix project is the ability to install and use the Portage system to emerge native Windows applications (requires Visual Studio, 2008 Express Edition will do too). However, this feature does not support the wide variety of packages supported by other platforms (including Interix).
Mac OS X
The Prefix project on Mac OS X is tested and supported on Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard on
PowerPCPowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
,
IA-32IA-32 , also known as x86-32, i386 or x86, is the CISC instruction-set architecture of Intel's most commercially successful microprocessors, and was first implemented in the Intel 80386 as a 32-bit extension of x86 architecture...
, and
x86-64x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...
architectures.
Portaris
An unofficial port to the Solaris operating system, "Portaris", was announced around 2006, but never got into a public state. It has been superseded by the Gentoo Prefix project.
See also
- Gentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux is a computer operating system built on top of the Linux kernel and based on the Portage package management system. It is distributed as free and open source software. Unlike a conventional software distribution, the user compiles the source code locally according to their chosen...
- Portage
Portage is a package management system used by Gentoo Linux, based on the concept of ports collections. Gentoo is sometimes referred to as a meta-distribution due to the extreme flexibility of Portage, which makes it operating-system-independent. The Gentoo/Alt project is concerned with using...
- Comparison of BSD operating systems
There are a number of Unix-like operating systems based on or descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution series of Unix variants. The three most notable descendants in current use are FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD, which are all derived from 386BSD and 4.4BSD-Lite, by various routes...
External links