[vbox-dev] Mac OS X build instructions

[Kalogrianitis Socratis]

I'm trying to re-create a build environment for VirtualBox 5.1.x on OSX 10.9 and later for a new project I'm going to be trying (https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=80315).

The official instructions are nothing but current and/or working. They even talk about 10.5 builds, which are not supported since Jobs was still iCeo. I have virgin VMs for anything from 10.5 to 10.12 and I'm willing to test/rewrite/update the instructions, but since I'm not a heavy C developer, I'm going to need some help here and there.

1) The current floating instructions are:
   - the official, way outdated, ones, https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Mac%20OS%20X%20build%20instructions
   - https://blog.wildducktheories.com/building-virtual-box-on-osx-10-9/
   - https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=72859

2) I do understand the need to have build instructions for 10.6 for the 4.3.x builds, so perhaps they should be split into "vintage" and "current"? Or maybe "4.3.x" for up to 10.7, "5.0.x" for up to 10.8, and "current"? Even the vintage ones need correction.

3) Is XCode 4.1.x really required, when 10.9 is the minimum supported version (VBox 5.1 series) and the earliest version that will run on 10.9 is XCode 5.0.1? For reference, the latest that has the 10.9 SDK is XCode 6.2. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcode

4) In that spirit, there are "/vbox/tools/darwin.amd64/bin/xcode-6.2-extractor.sh" and "/vbox/tools/darwin.x86/bin/xcode-4.1-extractor.sh". Given that 6.2 is for OSX>10.9, should all dev environments >10.9 use the 6.2 XCode?

5) Qt is now at 5.6.2 (current VirtualBox builds as of 5.1.10). The instructions talk about 4.4.x for Tiger (aka OSX 10.4) and 4.5.x for OSX>10.6.

6) ***** BIGGEST PROBLEM SO FAR *****
No matter if I install the official Qt5.6.2 package or qt5 from "macports", vbox/configure fails to detect the "QtCore.framework", because it simply doesn't exist. The only way to get it is with homebrew. Which makes it cumbersome to have 2 package managers, macports *and* homebrew. I'd prefer it if it was only with macports.

That's all for a start ;). The main goal is to get a clean sheet of instructions for a 10.9 installation with the current VirtualBox 5.1.x series, and we take it from there.


Thanks for any and all pointers/hints that anyone has,

Socratis