Darling-dmg
Version: 1.0.4 Web: https://github. com/darlinghq/darling-dmg
An average Linux distribution features decent support for Windows-specific features. We can mount NTFS and FAT volumes, access Samba shares and even run Windows applications via Wine. In contrast, interoperability with Apple’s OS X is limited. In
LXF220 we wrote about Darling, an early attempt to enable Linux to run macOS binaries. The project is still yet to mature, but among dozens of small components from the project, one stands out: Darling-dmg.
In brief, Darling-dmg makes it possible to mount a macOS application package as a FUSE volume in Linux. Historically, Apple as well as numerous third-party vendors used DMG to distribute software for Mac OS X and called this format an Apple Disk Image. In OS X/ macOS a DMG file is supposed to be mounted, much like an ISO in Windows. The problem was that while Linux proved itself able to handle ISO images and even dig into .CAB files of Windows installers, it was quite tricky to manually extract DMG packages.
Darling-dmg mounts a DMG image directly and enables you to browse an HFS+/HFSX filesystem that
they contain, simply by navigating to the mount point. The syntax is straightforward: $ darling-dmg <file-to-mount> <where-to-mount> [FUSE arguments]
DMG packages can vary. Darling-dmg supports most of them including UDIF files containing an Apple Disk Image, Apple Disk Images containing an HFS+/HFSX file system, and DMG files that store such filesystems directly. This means you can download and explore the contents of DMG files and extract information. There are various reasons why this could be useful: you may try to run a macOS app using the Darling emulator, or just extract some valuable content, like artwork. Using the FUSE mechanism means that mounting is permitted in user space and doesn’t require root privileges..