Getting Started with Mac OS
Original Author: Greg White, March 2005 (originally written for Mac OS X 10.3, prior to Tiger 10.4 release)
Last Modified: Debbie Rogind, Dec 2005 (annotated for Tiger Mac OS X 10.4)
Everyone: Please feel free to add comments - especially at the end, under "Just Plain Cool"!
Basics
X11.
As shipped - may be on Developer CD. Excellent configurable interface (see Applications menu after you start X11), I can show you some good setups for accessing machines at slac.
For Tiger OS (Mac OS X 10.4)
Tiger uses a different version of ssh...
From the Tiger Installation DVD, perform the Optional Installation - this will update the X11 version (to 4.4.0). Alternatively, go to the XFree86 Project to get it.
Note: Tiger OS uses a new version of ssh:
(From Booker Bense: )
"NOTE: The -X flag has changed in OpenSSH 3.8 and later, X11 forwarding is performed in a way that applications run as untrusted clients by default.
Some applications may not function properly when run as untrusted clients. To forward X11 so that applications are run as trusted clients, invoke ssh with the -Y flag instead of the -X flag, or set ForwardX11Trusted in the ~/.ssh/config file."
I changed my X11|Applications|Customize commands that ssh to "... ssh -Y -1 -ldrogind <host>..."
Adobe Acrobat. May now come as shipped. I had to get it for free from Adobe. Note, Safari has a built-in PDF viewer. You can also open PDFs in an external viewer.
MS Office: (Bookstore)
Word
Powerpoint
Excel
Entourage (Microsoft's Outlook for Mac). I use Entourage for mail rather than Apple Mail, but i have friends who prefer Apple mail. I use Entourage as IMAP client, rather than Exchange, so it works from home seamlessly, but it can do Exchange too.
For lots of Microsoft Mac stuff see http://www.microsoft.com/mac/.
Dreamweaver/Contribute/BBEdit.
(Bookstore)
Stuffit Expander.
May now come as shipped. Otherwise download free from www.stuffit.com. Like winzip but much smoother and better integrated into the downloading system of the browser.
AFS.
Get MacLeland from Stanford http://www.stanford.edu/group/itss/macstanford/macleland/. This includes both Open AFS, and the Stanford GUI for managing it. See me for some tweaks that make it smooth (like getting /afs to look as though it is mounted in the root, rather than /Volumes/afs, so it looks just as it does when you're on an AFS machine at work). Also at Stanford ESS
For Tiger OS (From Doug):
I've been using OpenAFS for MacOS X (Tiger), and it works pretty well. Easy download, and simple to configure for SLAC access. I'm assuming you don't use AFS access at LLNL or ANL.
Stephen Norum got the initial information, which indicated a few problems like the system would hang up when you go to sleep or shut down. We've been using this for a couple of weeks, and haven't seen any of these issues; if the AFS daemons can access the net, they will and if not, they won't - silently. I don't see any of the issues with sleeping or shutdown.
The idea is to download, edit a couple of files, then reboot. You'll have to type 'klog' and supply a password if you want full access or to write anything, but basically you'll just 'cd /afs/slac.stanford.edu/g/lcls/...'
1. Go to http://dl.openafs.org/dl/openafs/candidate/1.4.1-rc1/macos-10.4/ and download the disk image (.dmg) file. Install the software, check the readme.
2. Open a terminal and edit /var/db/openafs/etc/ThisCell and have it contain a single line: slac.stanford.edu
3. Reboot.
Editors/IDEs
Xcode - http://developer.apple.com
SubEthaEdit - http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/
Emacs.
As Shipped, but only "curses" interface. Better use "OS X"ified version of GNU distribution available from a few places, see http://www.webweavertech.com/ovidiu/emacs.html and linked pages. See me for .emacs and redo.el setup. Strongly recommend also installing JDE and JDEbug from www.sunsite.dk (as I recently got SCS to install on /afs/slac/package/emacs), this makes Emacs great java IDE.
For Tiger OS - You must get a different version of emacs compiled for Tiger-
get emacs download from http://home.att.ne.jp/alpha/z123/emacs-mac-e.html
I placed an alias into my login .bashrc file : alias emacs="/Applications/Emacs/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs" so that I can emacs from xterm command line.
Xtools.
Apple's own IDE. As shipped on Developer CD. Heard it's great for C and Java development too but I don't use it. I use emacs and eclipse.
Eclipse.
Netbeans.
if you want netbeans as well as eclipse, it's at www.netbeans.org.
Web & Web Services
tomcat.
Download from apache. Excellent writeup on running a tomcat server in Mac OS X, plus tutorial on servlets, tags etc in http://developer.apple.com/internet/java/tomcat1.html.
SOAP, xerces, wsif
etc all seem to run on OS X fine. If you want to use these I have some tips for setup.
JDBC Thin Client.
Oracle Developer Network.
Norton Antivirus. www.semantec.com.
Free from Stanford ESS: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/itss/ess/mac/index.html
For Tiger OS - You must get the latest version (10.0) or else it will keep complaining.
Compilers and Unix commands
Basically all of the original BSD Unix ('Lite') tools are available at an interactive login. see /bin, /usr/bin, usr/local/bin. Java. Eg make, gcc, g++.
For Tiger OS - Install Xcode Tools from the Tiger Installation DVD in order to get the latest gnu tools.
Java
For Tiger OS -
Apple has an update for Java 1.5 :
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/java2se50release3.html
Download and install latest Java Version 1.5.0.
(If using eclipse - modify Windows|Preferences|Java for Java Installed JREs (Add this latest) and Compiler)
Tools
Netscape and Mozilla are also ported to OS X. Some people like them. Cheap and cheerful html editing. SubEthaEdit is a great HTML/CSS editor.
OmniGraffle.
Great diagramming package, very "Mac-like". www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/
Another alternative to Visio is ConceptDraw
From Doug (7/8/2005):
Hi everybody, I suspect everyone except me already knows this, but I wanted to blabber about it anyway.
I've used Visio on PC for several years, and it's a pretty good tool.
But in the last month or so, I've been using OmniGraffle (weird name?) on the Mac, and recently upgraded to the Pro version ($29 for education/research use.)
At this point, I think it is much better than Visio, at least for the kinds of diagrams I typically want to do. The "inspectors" (diagram tool and option controls) are quite comprehensive, and are laid out in a consistent way. I think it's more intuitive and easier to use once one understand a few basic concepts. I had a couple of outstanding questions about it, but Stephen showed me the solution, and I'm a happy guy.
Also, the Pro version can read Visio VXD files (XML format) directly, and can write them as well. So I've just read in Bob Fuller's Visio layout of the FFTB components, and it looks great.
So, I whole-heartedly recommend this OmniGraffle tool, even though it has an odd name. And, this Pro version can be upgraded to the next version (v4) free of charge when it's available.
-from doug m.
eSuite4X.
SQL tool.
Unison.
Netnews reader
Windows Media Player.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/software/Macintosh/osx/default.aspx
All Adobe tools:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash etc. (Bookstore)
Where to get what you want (other than Google)
VersionTracker
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
All mac os x software in one place.
Apple
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/
SourceForge
loads of OS X stuff, in particular Fink (they take gnu and other unix sources and make Mac OS X binary packages for them - port them). http://fink.sourceforge.net/. Popular one is GIMP, like Photoshop.
osxgnu
gnu software packaged so it will install with the Apple installer
Information
Apple.
http://www.macintouch.com/ - reviews and trouble-shooting http://www.macosxhints.com/ - mac os x hints....
Especially see developer resources (www.apple.com/developer) http://www.osxfaq.com
Acquisition.
http://www.acquisitionx.com/. Something to do with file-sharing (Limewire network), whatever that is. Never use it myself.
Instant Messaging:
Adium - http://www.adiumx.com/ - AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more (free and the best ever)
iChat - comes with Mac OS X
Just plain cool
Keychain Access (/Applications/Utilities).
Manages all your passwords. many apps talk to the keychain for you to get things like Exchange Server credentials, but it also lets you just put in passwords and secure notes yourself so you can keep records of frequent flyer numbers or bank account numbers.
Dashboard (Tiger OS)
Download oodles of widgets from Apple site.
Quicksilver (Tiger OS)
http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/
Quicksilver allows you to navigate to what you need quickly and easily, while keeping your hands on the keyboard. For example, if you want to launch an application hidden in the depths of your file system, simply activate Quicksilver with a keystroke, type a few letters of the application's name, then hit Return or Enter to launch it. When you don't need Quicksilver, it keeps out of your way, preserving screen real estate. (Stephen, Doug, Diane and Debbie are using)