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The Fine print: The following are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

I realized last week that I could build one of Apple's driver stacks at home. I wanted this so I could turn on its logging as well as to enable source code debugging.

Each day I updated my clients on my progress, however by today I was quite dismayed that I still couldn't get it to build. This because Apple has a private SDK called macosx.internal. The drivers from Apple's Open Source site once built out of the box, thereby enabling OpenDarwin, but now they don't.

I at first had no clue what was in machos.internal - damn autocorrect! - but eventually figured out that it needed some headers from the xnu kernel.

I figured I should try building the kernel first, but again it depends on macosx.internal. All I really needed was the headers, so I tried:

      $ make installhdrs

... which did install lots of headers, but not the ones I needed. The only headers it installs are already in Kernel.framework. I needed some of the private headers. As I figured them out I added them to my own private Kernel.framework.

When I started work again today I mailed my clients with "Working at home to continue building the IOGraphicsFamily. I am dismayed that this is taking so long."

Dismayed because the client wants to send my driver to OEMs on the first.

Eric wrote back, "Do you think this will help?"

"Yes. It should enable debugging of that showstopper bug."

"The one Lucas fixed last week?"

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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 28 2017, @11:43PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 28 2017, @11:43PM (#602747)

    Old disabled white male = diversity hire.

    "Yes. It should enable debugging of that showstopper bug."

    "The one Lucas fixed last week?"

    What would you say you do at work?

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday November 29 2017, @01:38AM (4 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 29 2017, @01:38AM (#602767) Homepage Journal

    I'm good at my work. Everything I write works flawlessly. But I'm slow. That's a real problem as I am paid for milestones and shipments. My total pay for 2017 will be $41k with no benefits nor stock. At a salaried job I could command $135k with stock options.

    Lucas is just as good as me but he is also fast.

    Oddly he regards himself as incompetent.

    He's also Chinese; his imposter syndrome quite likely the result of the brutal exams that prospective college students have to do well in.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @06:30AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @06:30AM (#602842)

      I'm great at my work. I write brilliant ideas into flawless code. But I'm not social. That's a real problem as I have neglected to put my name on any of my work for the past 15 years. The downside of working anonymously is that I have no reputation with which to impress the kinds of corporate idiots who pay $135k. Idiots want narcissistic techbro social coders who incessantly blog about every achievement. Whereas I'm literally too self-absorbed to brag about my skills. I already know very well what my skills are and I don't waste my time proving myself to idiots who choose not to believe me.

      Of course an antisocial loser like me who stubbornly refuses to engage in any form of reputation management is always the first to be laid off during every recession. My total pay for 2017 will be $0. My total pay for 2016 was $0. My total pay for 2015 was $0. My total pay for 2014 was $0. And so on. This great recession is a drag. The only advantage of having no income is I don't pay any taxes either. Also of course I have no health insurance, thank Obama, because I am American.

      It's pretty clear that my personality type is completely unwelcome in tech. Because I'm an actual genuine real nerd instead of a social poser fake nerd. I learn for the joy of learning, I code for the thrill of accomplishment, and I never get paid.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday November 29 2017, @01:42AM (3 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 29 2017, @01:42AM (#602768) Homepage Journal

    My client retained me based entirely on this website [soggywizards.com]. It doesn't even have my name on the homepage or on the page about OS X kernel extensions. Certainly not my age. No gray-haired photos either.

    I'm a contract programmer so I'm paid like they pay for office supplies. Consultants never go through HR.

    The reason I changed my specialty to drivers was that it is damn near impossible for someone with grey hair to get a job as a mobile app developer. My homelessness had quite a lot to do with my desire to be a mobile app developer.

    Finally I gave up, registered the soggywizards.com domain and hung out my contract programming shingle. I get a serious client inquiry about once per month. Not all of the potential clients decide to retain me, but I've been with this particular client for a year.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @07:01AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @07:01AM (#602850)

      I have absolutely zero interest in mobile apps. Too trendy. Too mainstream. Too boring.

      On the one hand, I should totally blag a blog to teach Comcast lovers like MDC how to steal free internet from Comcast. It's almost like stealing cable except wireless and a lot more fun.

      On the other hand, as the old joke says, "If you're too stupid to break in and create your own account, I don't want you on the system. We've got too many goddamn shit-for-brains assholes on this box anyway."

      • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday November 29 2017, @07:13AM (1 child)

        by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 29 2017, @07:13AM (#602853) Homepage Journal

        I don't recall the name but I found it helpful that it displayed the signal strengths in Db.

        When I was staying with my mother she would not permit me to use my own money to get cable internet for her home. So I used her 2002 iMac G4 - the space probe module - as a gateway so I could get online with its dialup, which never worked worth a damn.

        So I had the bright idea that I could hack into the wifi of one of her condo association neighbors. I WILL NEVER BUY A HOUSE THAT"S UNDER THE THUMB OF A HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION M"KAY?

        But no, all her neighbors were secure enough that that hacking tool didn't work.

        In my current apartment I could have used a Pringles can to get online via the cop shop that's two doors down - they have free city of Vancouver public service wifi. But before I could get around to eating potato chips I'd already sprung for my cable modem.

        --
        Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]