An Open Message Re Gnome on Apple Mac

[Stephen Fisher <slfshare earthlink net>]

Note sure if this is the write list of the hundreds listed on the site.

New to Linux and Gnome. Very interested. Have done partial install of 
Gnome (1.4 I believe)  under OS X to run Gnucash, which despite being a 
mess to install is a fine piece of software. Keep seeing references 
that Gnome Desktop can be made to run on Apple Darwin, but nowhere on 
any page of the Gnome site, my search of the list archives, or 
elsewhere on the internet can I find an detailed explanation of how to 
accomplish. Based on my limited experience w/ Linux. I find this to be 
a great liability of Linux software in general. Help is generally 
available via mailing lists like this one (if you find the right one) 
but written documentation is either non-existent, well hidden, outdated 
or incomplete. Please do not take this criticism as a flame. It's not. 
I've found the quality and at least mailing list support for the Linux 
software I used to be outstanding and wish the platform every success. 
You know you are on the right track when Linux is being challenged by a 
company more odious in SCO than even MS!! ;) But for the newbie, 
acquiring the information necessary to get started in Linux with or 
without a distro is daunting, and a barrier I believe to success on the 
consumer desktop. Speaking as a Apple user, I see much parallel 
interest in Apple and Linux opposition to MS dominance of the desktop. 
And now that the Mac OS underpinnings are Unix-based, one of the few 
barriers to greater use of Linux software on Apple hardware is ease of 
installation. OpenOffice provides a very simple install under Mac OS X. 
A lesson to be learned for Linux community in general.

A final observation on Linux documentation. Stopped by two local 
bookstores today (B&N and Borders) looking for an introductory book on 
Linux. To my surprise found more Apple related books than Linux! And 
nothing introductory. All seriously geeky (How to configure sendmail in 
900 pages.) I'm sold on the Linux GPL concept. But from where I sit, 
Linux is going to have a tough sell job until the message is dumbed 
down and readily available to folks outside the IT industry. The 
product is getting there. The message is not.

Thanks for listening. Interested in any help someone can offer re 
running Gnome Desktop under Mac OS X.