Dear Apple Inc,
As one of the primary authors of libcurl and curl, two parts that are included in every Mac OS X release since years back, I was only wondering if you would consider sponsoring me with a Mac, to make it easier for me to do (lib)curl development, tuning and bug-fixing on/for the Mac?
I really don’t have any particular income from Macs so I don’t see how I can personally motivate spending some 2000 USD on a Mac only for curl. And to be honest, I can’t think of any other reason to get a Mac either!
I did look around Apple’s web site to find an email adress of someone to send my plea to, but I failed. So I’ll just put it here. I have exactly no hope in actually accomplishing anything with this other than putting some attention on how things are.
This post was triggered by recent libcurl bugs that seem to show up only on Mac!
Let me guess they did not do any bugfixing since the first release of Mac OS X?
Not to my knowledge, no. They might’ve done changes to the package that they didn’t pass back to us, as we can’t really tell and the license allows it.
Makes me wish that my coding skills were more up to spec. I would gladly help test cURL and libcurl on OS X.
Thanks for the friendly words!
Actually, the testing part is pretty well covered in the curl project. You can also find out how to help the project by doing automated build+tests by reading this:
http://curl.haxx.se/docs/testcurl.html
What is less good covered is developers who are using non-linux platforms who are dedicated enough to dig into the code, sort out problems, track down bugs and research better ways to do things. Hence it is often me doing that, even when the problem only appears on platform I never use or never even see…
Here is Apple’s source for curl in Mac OS X 10.5:
http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/curl/curl-42/
Here is a link where you can buy a Mac Mini (no sales tax, no shipping):
http://www.expercom.com/browse_by_category.html?CATEGORY_ID=292
Why do you think you need to spend $2k, or are you trolling?
Bork, why does it matter where the curl source for Max OS X is? I think I know where to find curl sources on my own.
I’m not trolling. I’m not a Mac guy so I really don’t know what I would need to develop on. I somehow guess(ed) that just putting a Mini in a corner with a RJ45 plugged in wouldn’t be enough. I don’t think any of that is my point though. I don’t think spending 600USD on a box I don’t need is any fun either.
daniel, previously you said, “They might’ve done changes to the package that they didn’t pass back to us, as we can’t really tell and the license allows it.”
The reason for sharing the link to the source code was for you to see the patches.
I can assure you that a Mac Mini in the configuration you noted above will more than suffice. It is trivial to boot multiple operating systems on it as well to satisfy that need.
Obviously, you can find a refurb or used one for much less.
Right, if that source code is indeed what they build the binaries from we could chase down possible changes indeed. I was mostly mentioning that possibility as the license allows it and they are perfectly allowed to do this.
The point is still not about exactly how much money the devices cost. The point is still that if I would buy one, it would be solely for curl hacking and not for much else and I find it hard to motivate.
@Bork, I think you’re missing daniel’s point. He does curl development out of the goodness of his heart. Why would he pay *any* money for an apple box to fix curl bugs on ?
If apple find curl useful enough to ship with their products, surely they can afford to send him a small OSX box to help him fix bugs on. I certainly don’t expect him to spend his own money on such a device.
“if that source code is indeed what they build the binaries from we could chase down possible changes indeed.”
Why would it not be?
If daniel has no vested interest in owning a Mac, then obviously he should not buy one. I also believe that daniel is not entitled to a free Mac just because he chose to write free software.
@bork, you’re so obviously a troll I’ll stop responding. I did not claim I should be “entitled to a free mac” because I wrote free software.
Sorry, daniel, that comment was directed to GodEater. I realize that you did not make that claim and no offense was directed at you.