Re: FW: What goes where?
Re: FW: What goes where?
- Subject: Re: FW: What goes where?
- From: Alex <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 01 Mar 2003 19:34:49 -0500
Getting back to the 'unix/x11 is hard, Apple should make it easier'
roots of this thread:
> >I don't see this. To me, Macs have fewer customizations available
> >than do other systems. This lack of complexity is one of the strong
> >arguments for using it. I admit, though, that I was out of the Mac
> >world for a long time. I always wanted one, but couldn't quite
> >justify it until it was clear that OS X was going to be Unix based
> >(and was really oing to be delivered.)
> >
> >Unix with X Windows is the OS for the ultimate customizer....
>
> You missed all the pHun then from System 7 to 9. Mac's not
> customizable? Mac OS System 9 was the best, you could have it
> looking like what ever you want and there are millions of little
> shareware apps and Finder extensions....
No, really: the amount of user customization available under any
version of MacOS has always been trivial as compared to unix,
and that includes the amount of UI customization as compared to
X-windows. The best thing about Apple basing MacOS X on unix is
the inherent stability, but the next best is that it gives the
sophisticated user access under the hood in ways no earlier MacOS
could.
But unix is hard, and X is one of the most obscure things about
unix. The only reason I can see for Apple devoting resources to
X-windows is because there a lot of people with unix workstations
on their desks who want to be able to do their work on a Mac now.
Those customers already know their way around unix; what they
need from Apple is better integrated X-windows support, and
that's what it looks to me like Apple is trying to deliver. I
think that's a good use of a finite resource, and I frankly see
no good reason for Apple to devote many of those resources to
hand-holding Mac users who delve into the unix side ill prepared.
Unix isn't going to stop having a steep learning curve just
because it comes in designer boxes --- if that were the case,
we'd all be using Irix.
Mac users who want to learn unix (including, especially, any who
think they want to understand X internals) need to look to the
traditional, time-tested methods of learning unix: ask friends
who already know it[1]; read man pages; buy some of the better
introductory unix books[2]; try things out and bloody your
knuckles[3].
---Alex
Carl Alexander KD7GUR
------------- MIT
email@hidden Course VI (sometime special student) SIPB
Mitgaard ("honorary mold") MITSFS
http://www.mit.edu/~xela
------------- Work
email@hidden Manager, Systems & Network Engineering, TERC
http://www.terc.edu
[1] Very, very few people *really* know unix, but lots of people
know more than you do. Just don't be surprised when you find
out years later that there's a better way to do something than
the one your friend told you about.
[2] I've bought a lot of unix books over the years and never read
more than 5% of the vast majority of them. The exceptions
are _Unix System Administration Handbook_ (www.admin.com),
and several O'Reilly titles, including _Learning the Unix
Operating System_ and _Unix Power Tools_ (www.oreilly.com).
[3] All unixes are different, and MacOS X is more so. Apple has
made some changes that just seem arbitrary (what's the point
of not having a "root" account?), and have retained some
classic Mac elements that create issues in a unix environment
and provide no gain I can figure out (why not just go ahead and
make HFS+ case sensitive already?). Learning about unix from
materials oriented toward older unixes while practicing on
MacOS X will be disorienting; for someone serious about learning
unix per se, I'd suggest finding some old discarded computer and
installing NetBSD or FreeBSD on it (these differ less than other
unixes from MacOS X).
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