Mac OS X [Was Re: [CLUE-Tech] Re:"to get Windoze adjusted"]

[Nathan Hokanson]

> 
> A lot of Linux users have been raving about OS-X...on the other hand, a
> lot of long-time Mac users do not like the interface.
> 

I think the interface looks much like any other Apple OS interface.  It
is pretty and has lots of bells and whistles that appeal to the "artsy"
crowd.  I don't like the docking/active window bar, however.  It is very
difficult to see what windows you have open.  In OS 9 it was pretty
simple to see what was open (via the menu).  I didn't play around too
much with the interface as I was in the command prompt most of the time,
so the menu could be the same in OS X.

I was helping a friend of mine install MySQL on his workstation at
work.  It was a G4 Cube with a fresh OS X install on it.  The first
thing that annoyed me was that root was disabled by default.  That is
not to say that you had to give root a password, but there wasn't even a
Root user!  I can see why they would do that, but it was annoying to
have to read in a book (there was no OS help for this) how to turn on
the root user.

The second thing that annoyed me may have more to do with the fact that
OS X is based on BSD and not Linux.  Having been a Solaris/Linux user
since '96 I am pretty familiar with the basic structure of /etc which is
VERY different in BSD.  I think.  I know that Apple has put some strange
extensions/behaviors in the /etc area.

For instance, to get mysql to come up on boot, we had to type in a
fairly cryptic "script" that told the Aqua interface (not the kernel)
that we desired a program to be started at boot time.  There was no rc.d
directory anywhere.  Very confusing to a System V user....

All in all, it was challenging, and I wouldn't mind playing around a bit
more with OS X, but I wouldn't want my workstation to be an OS X box.  

> I personally haven't worked with OS-X.  By the way, is it pronounced
> "OS - TEN" or "OS - EX"??
> 

It is "OS - Ten".  I said "OS Ex" once in front of a bunch of Apple
users when it was first announced and they turned white.  With hushed
whisper one of them said, "Nathan, it is OS Ten."  It was almost as if I
had cursed.  Gotta love them Designers!

Nathan Hokanson
Senior Software Developer
Gravity Media Group
nathan at gravitymedia.com