Darling

What Darling is

Darling is a free, open-source software project for running macOS software in a Linux environment. It translates macOS interfaces rather than relying on a hardware emulator: a Mach-O binary loader and userspace kernel server provide those interfaces on Linux. Its Darwin environment includes Mach, dyld, and launchd, and it reimplements frameworks such as Foundation, AppKit, CoreAudio, and CoreFoundation.

The Darling shell is currently the main way to interact with the software. Documentation describes installing apps from DMG images, archives, and PKG files, but the lack of a graphical interface brings limitations, and MPKG files are not supported. Graphical Cocoa applications have experimental support; the project describes simple graphical app support as basic, and says most GUI applications do not work. The project lists Homebrew, Xcode command-line tools, and Python 3.11 among software tested to work.

Darling runs on Linux and can be used on Windows through WSL2. Its build instructions call for a 64-bit x86 Linux distribution, Linux 5.0 or later, and at least 4 GB of RAM. Prefixes use overlayfs storage; NFS and eCryptfs are unsupported for this purpose. Darling is distributed under the GNU GPL version 3, and the project links to a Discord community and bug tracker.

Who it suits

Darling suits Linux users who want to run macOS command-line software in a Darwin environment, including software such as Homebrew, Xcode command-line tools, and Python 3.11. It may also suit users exploring macOS graphical apps, provided they are comfortable with experimental support and shell-based interaction.

Limits

The shell is the primary interface, and graphical Cocoa app support is experimental; most GUI applications do not work. MPKG installation is unsupported, and prefixes require storage other than NFS or eCryptfs.

Getting started

1. Visit the Darling website and read the project documentation.
2. Use a 64-bit x86 Linux distribution with Linux 5.0 or later and at least 4 GB of RAM, or use Windows through WSL2.
3. Install and interact with Darling through its primary shell interface.
4. Install supported software from a DMG image, archive, or PKG file.

Verdict

Choose Darling if you need a free, open-source way to run supported macOS software from Linux or Windows through WSL2. It is most suited to shell use; people who depend on graphical macOS apps should account for the project’s experimental GUI support.