At this point we classify it as a rumor, and here's hoping that it's only a rumor, because otherwise we may be in for some dark days ahead. Faithful viewer Stephanie alerted us to an alarming piece in today's New York Post which claims that software veep and OS wunderkind Avie Tevanian may be looking to leave Apple for greener pastures. (Or less-Aqua pastures. Whatever.) Normally we'd dismiss such a report as the fevered rantings of a heroin addict who accidentally mainlined Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, but given that the first "mainstream" version of Mac OS X is finally complete, that sounds like a milestone after which an antsy software guru might be willing to find another peg on which to hang his hat. So we're just a little anxious about this.

The man generally keeps a pretty low profile, publicly speaking, so some of you may not be aware of Avie's tremendous importance to Apple's post-Amelio resurgence. This is the guy who pretty much wrote the Mach kernel that purrs under the hood of Mac OS X, and was Steve's right hand man through most of the NeXT years; indeed, not to diminish the importance of all the code jockeys in the trenches who pushed themselves to the brink of human endurance to make the operating system what it is today, but if we had to pick one guy to credit for everything in the OS that isn't Steve's Aqua interface, we'd have to say that Avie is Mr. Mac OS X, no question.

So the word on the street (or, more accurately, the word in the Post) is that despite all that history with Steve, NeXT, and Apple, Avie's eye is wandering towards "the gains that Intel and Microsoft are making in improving computer speed and performance." Which would mean, of course, that Avie is now on crack. Other listed possibilities for his alleged plans to depart are a desire to work with Sony (why work for the "Sony of Personal Computing" when you can work for the real thing?) and just being "ready to do something else."

Whatever the reason, if Avie is leaving, apparently the search to find a replacement isn't going well. (Gee, apparently most people don't like the idea of reporting directly to Steve Jobs. Why do you suppose that is?) Until we get some solid confirmation, we're treating this as a nasty rumor, but if it turns out to be true and Avie wants to go, we certainly wouldn't slag him for it-- after all, he's done more for Apple than all but a select handful of outstanding individuals in the company's quarter-century in existence. Instead, we'll just blubber at his feet and beg him not to abandon us. But tactfully, right?