title: Date command does not follow Linux specifications (Mac OS X Lion)
body: <p>I have been developing a script on my linux box for quite some time, and wanted to run it on my Mac as well.</p>
  
  <p>I thought that the functions on the Mac were the same as the functions on linux, but today I realized it was wrong. I knew that fewer functions existed on the Mac, but I thought that the functions that did exist, had the same implementation.</p>
  
  <p>This problem is specifically in regards to the <code>date</code> command.</p>
  
  <p>When I run the command on my linux machine with the parameter to provide some time in nanoseconds, I get the correct result, but when I run it on my mac, it does not have that option.</p>
  
  <pre><code>Linux-Machine&gt; date +%N
  55555555555 #Current time in nanoseconds
  Mac-Machine&gt; date +%N
  N
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How do I go about getting the current time in nanoseconds as a bash command on the Mac?</p>
  
  <p>Worst case is I create a small piece of code that calls a system function in C or something and then call it within my script.</p>
  
  <p>Any help is much appreciated!</p>