The REF library contains no explicit use of machine-dependent features, so its behaviour should be the same on all platforms on which it is implemented.
However, external references to HDS objects (those not identified as “internal” to the REF library) will contain explicit file names, so true portability of data (in the manner provided by HDS) cannot be expected with REF when working with operating systems which have different file naming conventions. If complete data portability is required, then use of the REF library should be restricted to internal references only.