Make OS X open source?!?

John Dvorak: Apple Needs to Make OS X Open-Source:

A cloud is rising over Mac OS X and its future unless Apple makes its boldest move ever: turning OS X into an open-source project. That would make the battle between OS X and Linux the most interesting one on the computer scene. With all attention turned in that direction, there would be nothing Microsoft could do to stem a reversal of its fortunes.

Interesting concept. Apple has taken three discrete steps that have lured my interest. First was Mac OS X, a lovely operating system that deserves far greater exposure. Second, the shift to Intel. And third, Boot Camp, its "beta" software that allows a MacIntel user to install and boot Windows XP, in addition to Mac OS X.

Right then and there, with step three, I know that my next computer purchase will be a Mac, probably an iMac. More than good enough for the Mac application I want to run (Bartas Technologies Copywrite), and more than good enough to support the XP programs I want to run (Doom3, damnit). Oh, and I get to keep my entire PC library, all my files, hardware, etc. The TCO for a Mac, for me, fell through the floor.

I've always argued against the assertion that Apple is primarily a hardware company. They're not really primarily a software company, either. They are (surprise) something different, a company that sells a hardware/software symbios. Until recently, one could not live without the other.

That's no longer true. Apple's Intel hardware can now easily live without Apple's software. Certainly there were distros of Linux that always made this possible, but now we have Apple seemingly endorsing the concept.

So what of OS X? Apple can simply sell it to whoever wants it, to install it on whatever Intel (or AMD) box they choose. Just limit support to key manufacturers. Or, alternatively, make a deal with someone like Dell to market OS X on their machines.

Or, as Dvorak suggests, just release OS X to open source and concentrate on hardware.

Interesting times ahead.