Mac OS is based on a BSD code base, while Linux is an independent development of a unix-like system. This means that these systems are similar, but not binary compatible. Furthermore, Mac OS has lots of applications that are not open source and are build on libraries that are not open source.

Is macOS Linux based?

OS X is a Unix-like system, but it is in no way based on GNU/Linux. To add on to this, OS X isn’t just a “Unix-like”, it is certified as Unix, and can officially use the Unix trademark. OS X is Unix. … OSX does not use the Linux kernel but rather a Mach/BSD hybrid one.

Is macOS Linux or Unix based?

Mac OS X / OS X / macOS

It is a Unix-based operating system built on NeXTSTEP and other technology developed at NeXT from the late 1980s until early 1997, when Apple purchased the company and its CEO Steve Jobs returned to Apple.