MacOS X

Re: MacOS X

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On 05/31/01 at 12:06, Matt Henderson wrote:

> Ok, that may solve a couple of problems I noticed when looking at OS X --
>
> + I didn't really like the Dock, since I prefer to have 'lists'
> of active processes to switch between, since I've got so many.

To each his own... At least the Dock is way (way, way) better than the System
7/8/9 Launcher (what a piece...).

> + I also prefer DragThing as a launcher.

There is a Carbon version of DragThing. I love DragThing in Classic MacOS, but
after having run it once in OS X to try it out, I find that I'm not using it.
For running processes, the Dock serves the purpose well enough for me, and the
button bar in Finder windows takes care of the rest of what I've used DT for
in Classic. There's a Dock preference that hides it when the mouse cursor is
not at the bottom of the screen, which helps to reduce screen clutter quite
nicely.

> Also, when I had a quick look at X, I also had a few other questions:
>
> + The User's Manual certainly wasn't written for any kind
> of advanced user, and didn't have answers to any of my questions.
> Does Apple provide any sort of advanced documentation? Where
> do you go when you have questions like, "Is Apache's VirtualHosts
> configured graphically via some tool in the MacOS, or do I need
> to modify the httpd.conf file myself?", "If I install PHP, with
> this screw up something in the MacOS's view of Apache?"

There are graphical (browser-based) interfaces for configuring Apache --
Webmin and Tenon iTools come to mind. I don't believe there's an Apple
solution at this point, though. I'm not sure what OS X Server 10.0 looks like
-- I'm still using 1.2 at the moment. Many people are using PHP with OS X
Server 1.x without problems, and I expect that many are also using it under OS
X 10.x (and OSXS 10.x).

> + I couldn't even find the root password. Did I overlook something
> obvious?

OS X has no root account by default (better to hide it from the unwashed
masses...). As has been pointed out, you can use sudo instead, which is safer.
If you really need (or feel you need) a root account, you can set a root
password in NetInfo through the NetInfo Manager app (look for it in
/Applications/Utilities)

> + What are you doing for backups? Presently I'm using Retrospect
> to back up the machine. If Retrospect's running under Classic,
> can it backup the Unix subsystems, so that a complete disk
> restore would be complete?

There's a Retrospect Carbon beta. Apparently people are having decent
experiences with it.

> Nicholas Orr <nick@goya.com.au> wrote:
>
> > The benefits are (I find) outweighing the loss of no native office.
> > There's heaps of sites that will help you with OSX setup etc. start at
> > www.macsurfer.com ang go from there.
>
> Do you know if it would be possible for me to install X on the same machine
> I'm running now, in a way that would let me gradually get used to it?
> Meaning the following -- somehow I boot into 9.1 during worktime, and then
> when I want to experiment with X, I boot into X, and it has access to all my
> user documents, but doesn't in any way corrupt my 9.1 system (user
> documents, prefs, etc.) so I can always be sure that I can boot into 9.1 and
> continue working if I discover some incompatibility in X?

You must have 9.1 installed to begin with in order to install X and have the
Classic Environment work. Both OSes can be installed on the same partition, on
different partitions, or on different disks -- your choice (although OS X can
be finicky about what kind of disk and partition it's on -- if you put it on
the first partition of your primary master ATA drive, you'll be safe). You can
specify which system to boot to using the System Disk utility -- it's in
System Preferences under X and in Control Panels under 9.1. With some Mac
models, you can hold down the Option key during boot to switch (it's a
hardware thing, I don't think that all models support it).

Christopher Bort | cbort@globalhomes.com
Webmaster, Global Homes | webmaster@globalhomes.com
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