Programming

I have an app based on g++ and g77 that I would like to compile for OSX. My understanding is that OSX is linux of some flavor under the hood and have seen OSX users running bash shells and such. Is there a tutorial of some kind out there that someone could point me to on the subject?

LMHmedchem

OSX is UNIX under the hood, not Linux. It has an odd mixture of Linux and UNIX utilities -- a modified BSD kernel, a linux-like shell and nano editor, an extremely ancient BSD sed...

Installing Apple's xtools program would be a start. That will get you g++ and, optionally, GNU make. I'm not sure whether that might include fortran or not as well -- that's an optional part of gcc/g++ which Apple may not have thought to include. Check its options carefully when you install it.

I was hoping to be able to compile something under a linux or unix OS that would run on OSX. I don't have access to a mac at the moment and am trying to avoid having to get one.

Is this something I will have to compile on OSX to get it to work?

LMHmedchem

xcode definitely does not have fortran by default. From man gcc on an OSX computer:

Code:

                                                         In particular, Apple
       does not currently support the compilation of Fortran, Ada, or Java,
       although there are third parties who have made these work.

One of these third parties seems to be Fink.

Doesn't work that way. Cross-compiling usually means compiling for a different architecture of the same operating system, not a different one. Otherwise there's just too many differences; different formats, different headers, different environment... Apple's gcc is fairly eccentric too and unlikely to work on a non-Apple computer.

Besides -- what good is a program you can't test? Quite probably.

You don't need a new mac or a good mac to do so, though. Look for a cheap mac on ebay that has a x86 processor.

I contacted the coder I am setting this up for and they have both g77 and gfortran 4.4 with xcode tools, so that is a start.

I was hoping to get lucky. It has always been my SOP to install the necessary flavor of linux, compile, build, and test to make sure that there will be minimal issues on the other end. This came a bit out of left field, so I was hoping for a quick fix. Quick fixes don't often pan out all that well, so it's probably for the best. I seem to spend allot of time fixing quick fixes that were made in the past.

There are competent folks on the other end who could have helped with this, but that's never as straight forward as doing it yourself.

This is a good tip, hopefully I can pick something up without breaking the bank. Since a MAC is now Intel hardware, can I get OSX running on an Intel box or virtualized, vbox, vmware, etc?

LMHmedchem

I don't suppose he could just give you ssh access to his computer?

Quite safe for him to do if he gives you your own account. You can't manipulate the GUI without a GUI login. I couldn't even make my friend's computer beep over the internet. It's possible but not trivial, and OSX is not free. You won't get it running without paying or pirating and I really shouldn't endorse the latter.

---------- Post updated at 01:01 PM ---------- Previous update was at 12:55 PM ----------

Wow, Apple needs to update their manual page

This is something I could look into.

I do believe folks should get paid for the software they write, unless they want to offer it up for free. I just think it might make more sense to pay for OSX and run it on a computer I already have if that is possible. I have been thinking of setting up virtual box or buying vmware, since I have a bunch of different OS going. I am still primarily working in XP 32-bit, so I thought I would wait until I got a new rig with more RAM.

LMHmedchem