What is NouveAUX?
NouveAUX was an idea proposed on comp.unix.aux in early 2003 to resurrect A/UX, in spirit, if not in fact. This would be done by integrating a MacOS emulator (such as Basilisk II) tightly with an open-source Unix (such as NetBSD). A Mac-like desktop environment would also be created, though for the “full experience” to be realized, applications would need to be rebuilt to (optionally) use a shared menubar. By doing this, “A/UX” could run on newer machines, such as PowerMacs. The idea never got any further than discussion, mostly because of a lack of clear direction and programmers interested in doing the work. There are probably three major concerns in such an effort: • No one has ever created a sufficiently Mac-like desktop environment/window manager to use for a project like this. At best, you can find one with Mac-lookalike window borders and UI widgets. Though it seems unlikely, perhaps getting X11 apps to use a shared menubar resource is too technically challenging. The Apple HIG
NouveAUX was an idea proposed on comp.unix.aux in early 2003 to resurrect A/UX, in spirit, if not in fact. The name is a play on words, being a “new A/UX”, “nouveaux” being “new” in French. This would be done by integrating a MacOS emulator (such as [140]Basilisk II) tightly with an open-source Unix (such as [141]NetBSD). By doing this, “A/UX” could run on newer machines, such as PowerMacs. The idea never got any further than discussion, mostly because of a lack of clear direction and programmers interested in doing the work. There are probably three major concerns in such an effort: 1. No one has ever created a sufficiently Mac-like window manager to use for a project like this. At best, you can find one with Mac-lookalike window borders and UI widgets. Though it seems unlikely, perhaps getting X11 apps to use a shared menubar resource is too technically challenging. The Apple HIG pretty much spell out how the look and feel ought to be. 2. Mac emulators still rely on having a copy of
