Apple - Products - Public Source

“Apple has a proud tradition of innovating in ways that shake up the computer industry. They’ve done it again.”

—Eric Raymond
President, The Open Source Initiative

Open Source at Apple
On March 16, 1999, Apple revolutionized the industry yet again by becoming the first major computer company to make Open Source development a key part of its ongoing software strategy. Bookmark this page so you can track the latest opportunities for getting involved. Come join us as we work together to build the future.

The Apple Public Source License
The Apple Public Source License allows Apple to partner with external developers to create richer, faster and more reliable products for our users through Open Source development. Building on the rich traditions and experience of the Internet community, the Apple Public Source License is designed to foster a dynamic community of developers who share their ideas, expertise and code, as well as to allow easy integration of both commercial and open source software.

Announcing Darwin
The very first code released under the Apple Public Source License is Darwin, which will be a complete Open Source operating system based on the foundation layers for Mac OS X Server and Mac OS X. Just click “Getting Started” and you can get started working with Darwin today.

Getting Started
Before you start working with Open Source projects, you need to complete two steps:

Read the Apple Public Source License. If you accept its terms, then

Register as a member of the Apple Open Source community by choosing a user name and password.

To begin, read the Apple Public Source License and click the Accept link at the bottom of the page if you agree to its terms.

News. Learn what’s new with Open Source efforts at Apple.

Frequently Asked Questions. Get answers here regarding the license.

Submitting Modified Source. Send your code back to the community.