I played around on a NeXT cube last weekend at the Living Computer Museum and was reminded just how NeXT-like macOS is. I mean, I’ve played with NeXT in the past, and was aware of the continuity since the beginning, but playing with a NeXT in 2018 is uncanny. Of the noticeable UX changes in macOS, I’m not sure how many have been for the better.
I’ve long been bummed out that there’s never been an open NeXT clone gain traction. GNUStep, Etoile (built on GNUStep), and Cocotron all tried to recreate the magic, but languished in obscurity.
Back when Apple’s fortunes were down, betting on GNUStep would have been a decidedly quirky decision. But having the benefit of hindsight, I am convinced that had GNUStep been ready to ride Apple’s ride back to glory, we’d have a greater Linux user experience today, where popular software was a recompile away from running on both macOS and GNUStep.
I’ve long been bummed out that there’s never been an open NeXT clone gain traction. GNUStep, Etoile (built on GNUStep), and Cocotron all tried to recreate the magic, but languished in obscurity.
Back when Apple’s fortunes were down, betting on GNUStep would have been a decidedly quirky decision. But having the benefit of hindsight, I am convinced that had GNUStep been ready to ride Apple’s ride back to glory, we’d have a greater Linux user experience today, where popular software was a recompile away from running on both macOS and GNUStep.