Common questions

Is macOS based on Linux kernel?

by Bobbi Devlin

Is macOS based on Linux kernel?

Both the Linux kernel and the macOS kernel are UNIX-based. Some people say that macOS is “linux”, some say that both are compatible due to similarities between commands and file system hierarchy.

What kernel is macOS based on?

XNU kernel
The heart of the Mac OS X is the XNU kernel. The kernel refers to the part of an operating system that loads first. It controls and monitors hardware resources like memory, CPU processor allocation and disk drives. The XNU kernel includes code from an old computer architecture system called Mach.

What Linux is macOS based on?

Beyond that, Mac OS X and Ubuntu are cousins, Mac OS X being based off of FreeBSD/BSD, and Ubuntu being Linux based, which are two separate branches off of UNIX.

Can Mac run Linux programs?

Yes. It’s always been possible to run Linux on Macs as long as you use a version that is compatible with the Mac hardware. Most Linux applications run on compatible versions of Linux. You can start at www.linux.org.

Is Apple iOS Linux based?

No, iOS is not based on Linux. It is based on BSD.

Is Mac terminal Linux?

As you now know from my introductory article, macOS is a flavor of UNIX, similar to Linux. But unlike Linux, macOS does not support virtual terminals by default. Instead, you can use the Terminal app (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal) to obtain a command line terminal and BASH shell.

Is macOS Linux or UNIX?

macOS is a UNIX 03-compliant operating system certified by The Open Group. It has been since 2007, starting with MAC OS X 10.5.

Is iOS based on macOS?

macOS is the basis for some of Apple’s other operating systems, including iPhone OS/iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

Does iOS have a kernel?

XNU is the computer operating system (OS) kernel developed at Apple Inc. since December 1996 for use in the Mac OS X (now macOS) operating system and released as free and open-source software as part of the Darwin OS, which is the basis for the Apple TV Software, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS OSes.

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