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Just wondering, are there any projects like WINE, but for Mac software? That is, can we use a program that acts like a compatibility layer to run Mac apps?

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What program you need to run anyway? – Javier González Oct 12 '10 at 1:49
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I managed to run terminal programs like htop on a mac, when I took the file straight off my Ubuntu laptop. – Alvar Jun 22 '12 at 8:29

8 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

Sadly not.

There are various projects that attempt PowerPC emulation, but none that would allow you run your standard Mac OS X application.

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I think mac switched from PowerPC to x86, around the time of the switch from Macos 9 to Macos X. – richard Jul 18 '12 at 16:22
up vote 7 down vote

GNUstep as an equalivelent API to Cocoa, the NeXTstep based Mac API, but it's not complete, needs recompilation, and then your Mac app looks like it went back in time.

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up vote 4 down vote

There was a project attempting to do this for very old Mac Software (68k) called Executor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executor_%28software%29 -- it is, of course, defunct.

There is no modern equivalent as far as I can tell, and making such a thing would be almost as big a task as Wine itself.

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up vote 2 down vote

While the other answers are correct (no, you cannot), there is a way to install OSX on Virtualisation software such as VirtualBox. This is not what you asked for, so be careful, but it may get you the results you need.

http://www.taranfx.com/install-snow-leopard-virtualbox

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I have got this working on one machine, but couldn't on another. Whether or not it will work for you depends greatly on your hardware. – scottl Oct 18 '10 at 10:15
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I found performance to be pretty poor using VirtualBox for running MacOS X inside a Linux host. – Ken Mar 1 '12 at 15:43
up vote 2 down vote

No.

There is no way(without emulating/virtualizing Mac OSX itself) to run mac programs, sadly. Unlike Windows, whose libraries have been legally replicated for WINE, there is no such replication for Cocoa, except Gnustep, which is very incomplete.

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up vote 1 down vote

Hmm , you cant run OSX apps in Ubuntu. Although both OS are based on Unix , but Mac OS X apps are designed to run on its Mac OS X platform and coding , while Ubuntu is based on Debian , there are relatively no common factors except that they are both based on Unix .

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Linux is not UNIX. – RolandiXor♦ Jun 23 '11 at 3:03
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He said "based on Unix" which does not necessary mean it shares common code with Unix. It may mean "behaves in a manner similar to"... – Sergey Aug 11 '11 at 8:48
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"is based on" is not "is" – dag729 Sep 14 '11 at 10:13
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Linux is based on Unix (inspired by), but is not UNIX (a trademark). Where as GNU's not Unix. – richard Jul 18 '12 at 16:26
up vote 1 down vote

Your best bet now is running Mac OS X in virtualbox and using seamless mode. I have tried seamless mode with Winxp and it works great. I haven't really tried this with Mac OS X but I guess it's never too late!

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this is exactly the same as an answer posted one and a half year before this one... – Alvar Jun 22 '12 at 8:31
up vote 1 down vote

Recently featured on Slashdot was the Darling project, which aims to provide Darwin / OS X emulation and can already run some Mac OS X applications on Linux.

It appears to be developed for academic purposes and is still in its early stages, but it looks promising. It is based on the aforementioned GNUstep.

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