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Apple publishes open-source code for OS X El Capitan

Apple has officially released the open-source components behind OS X El Capitan, making good on the licensing requirements of the code.

Numerous file directories for El Capitan were added to the company's open-source site overnight. Together the components help form Darwin, a Unix-based OS that OS X's proprietary technology sits on top of. No installer is included however, meaning that the code is mainly of interest for people wanting to see how Apple has forked the software.

El Capitan originally shipped on Sept. 30. Critics have sometimes complained that Apple can be slow to publish open-source code, even though licenses demand that those parts be freely shared.

The company also shares some of the code in iOS, but most components are privately developed or licensed — there are just six open-source downloads listed for iOS 9.

Earlier on Tuesday Apple released OS X 10.11.2, a maintenance update for El Capitan. The software fixes problems with wireless connectivity, as well as things like importing iPhone photos via USB.