Run macOS Software on Linux
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Darling is a translation layer to run macOS software directly on Linux without emulation.
Darling implements a complete Darwin environment on Linux, including Mach, dyld, and launchd. It runs macOS software directly without a hardware emulator, similar to how Wine runs Windows software. The project is free and open-source under GPLv3. Darling currently has basic experimental support for simple GUI applications. It is largely based on original Darwin source code from Apple and uses The Cocotron for Cocoa implementation. The project targets x86_64 and does not yet run most macOS GUI apps like Logic Pro or Xcode.
What commenters are saying
Commenters note Darling only targets x86_64, not Apple Silicon, and its AppKit implementation receives very few updates. Several compare it to Wine, which benefits from decades of development, broader interest due to Windows killer apps, and Microsoft's backward compatibility. Others point out Apple's frequent API changes make compatibility harder. Some suggest alternatives like Reaper for DAW use on Linux. A few discuss technical challenges including the XNU kernel and GUI framework differences.