Women in Technology

Article:		Apple's High-Water Mark?
Subject:		Universal Binary is not a certification program
Date:		2006-03-24 15:56:33
From:		AdrienLamothe
Response to: Universal Binary is not a certification program
Universal Binary is indeed an Apple branding and certification program. The technical details are but one aspect of it (albeit the most important.) Check out http://developer.apple.com/softwarelicensing/agreements/maclogo.html for an overview. Software developers have to sign a licensing agreement before they can use the Universal Binary logo on their products. Regarding the fact that both architecture's binaries are contained in the same file: It is correct to express that as "two versions of the program come in the same box" (or more accurately, on the same CD.) Apple has done a good job leveraging open-source technology for Xcode. It still isn't an accepted international standard, which means you are dependent on Apple (or whoever) for future enhancements. There is nothing wrong with that, if you don't mind putting your coding effort in the hands of other people. That is the trade-off you accept when you opt for a multi-platform development tool.

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• Universal Binary is not a certification program
  2006-03-25 09:49:32  jdodds [View]
  
  
  You're still confusing the logo program with a file format. Yes, developers need to sign a licensing agreement to use the logo. But I don't need to sign anything to create a universal binary. And licensing the logo doesn't involve any certification by Apple.
  
  I thought I understood your point about Xcode up until the last sentence. Then you lost me. I don't know what you mean by:
  
  That is the trade-off you accept when you opt for a multi-platform development tool.
  
  Did you mean single platform instead of multi-platform?
  
  I thought you were making a point about open source tools versus proprietary tools.