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I have a closed-source piece of Linux software written in a combination of Java and C. The application installs on my Mac (it uses InstallAnywhere), however, it isn't intended to run on a Mac.

The Java parts of it run, but of course it stops as soon as it tries to load some of the .so shared libraries. The library format for Linux is different, the system calls are different, etc. I'm looking for some kind of Linux compatibility layer for Mac, just like WINE is a Windows compatibility layer for running Windows apps on Mac / Linux. FreeBSD includes a Linux compatibility layer, but it doesn't look like it was carried over to Mac OS X.

Does anyone know of a Linux compatibility layer for Mac? I realize there's not much of a customer-base for this sort of thing since most Linux software is open source.

I'm not looking for emulation (QEMU), virtualization (Parallels, VMWare), or source recompilation (Fink, MacPorts). I'm looking for a compatibility layer.

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    Until someone steps up with better information, I believe this answer should be linked.
    – ikaerom
    Commented Aug 14, 2017 at 23:17
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    Yes. I think it should be linked. Also, QEMU states, "QEMU is also capable of providing userspace API virtualization for Linux and BSD kernel interfaces. This allows binaries compiled against one architecture ABI (e.g. the Linux PPC64 ABI) to be run on a host using a different architecture ABI"--it goes on to explain that this mode of using QEMU isn't emulation. However, that text is the only reference I can find to running QEMU that way.
    – watkipet
    Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 21:59

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I think the answer to your question can be:

https://github.com/darlinghq/darling

https://www.darlinghq.org/

which I found while searching how Singularity works on mac.

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  • No, this is the reverse of what I'm asking for. Darling is a macOS compatibility layer for Linux. I'm asking for a Linux compatibility layer for macOS.
    – watkipet
    Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 13:54
  • Yes, this was my first thought as well. But Singularity's latest release sylabs.io/singularity-desktop-macos states they are using "combination of a native port for macOS and its compatibility layer" without mentioning the virtual machine they were running in prev versions. I'm still not sure if it this "compatibility layer" is darling or something else.
    – Miro Rodozov
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 10:47
  • I asked Singularity people what they run and it's a lightweight VM (xhyve) So in short, still there isn't a compatibility layer
    – Miro Rodozov
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 16:33

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