[dcarmich]

Just got my 17" AlBook (I love it. , but have some questions about customizing OS X: (I'm a Linux switcher)...

* How do you change your shell? (tried chsh and changing to /bin/bash as I did on Linux and the change didn't 'take'.)

* Where does one get and how does one install the developer tools?

* What's a good tool for ripping/recording audio CDs from the command line?

* How do I download a file in Safari to the disk? (when I click on, say, an S3M music file from http://www.futurecrew.com/skaven/tracker_music.html), Safari just displays it and doesn't download it.

* How do I tell the OS what 'odd' extensioned files are (ie. MOD/S3M ---> open with PlayerPRO (a music app) and let PlayerPRO open them and show them in the 'Open' dialog box? (tried MacModPlay, didn't work.)?

Thanks.. (and sorry for the offtopicness of some of these questions.)

--Douglas

[geekwagon]

Originally posted by dcarmich:
Just got my 17" AlBook (I love it. , but have some questions about customizing OS X: (I'm a Linux switcher)...

Me too! 17" Powerbook and I am a Linux convert..

* How do you change your shell? (tried chsh and changing to /bin/bash as I did on Linux and the change didn't 'take'.)

Applications -> Utilities -> Netinfo Manager. Users, your username, it should be obvious from there.

* Where does one get and how does one install the developer tools?

If you are still running the install of the OS that Apple put on the machine, it is in Applications -> Installers. There is a .pkg file in there you can just double click to install them. If you have re-installed the OS it is on a separate CD. Or you can just download them from Apple on the ADC site (you will need to make a free "Web" account)

* How do I download a file in Safari to the disk? (when I click on, say, an S3M music file from http://www.futurecrew.com/skaven/tracker_music.html), Safari just displays it and doesn't download it.
]

Right click on the link, "Save link to disk". Ctrl-click if you are using a 1-button mouse.

* How do I tell the OS what 'odd' extensioned files are (ie. MOD/S3M ---> open with PlayerPRO (a music app) and let PlayerPRO open them and show them in the 'Open' dialog box? (tried MacModPlay, didn't work.)?

Not familiar with that app. Is it an old app that runs in classic? If so it might be because of the data files lack a resource fork. Generally, OS X apps are pretty good about letting the OS know what extensions they can handle. When you double click a data file the OS doesn't know how to open, you can choose an application to open it. On that dialog box you can choose to make that app always open that kind of file. Not sure if you tried that.

EDIT: Btw, I think that LAME is compiled for OS X. You might check on versiontracker.

[dcarmich]

Just found the devtools that came with the machine, but I now have the updated devtools from the ADC site. How do I deinstall the devtools that I just installed? (Or should I just install the updated devtools and they'll install over the old devtools.)

[geekwagon]

Originally posted by dcarmich:
Just found the devtools that came with the machine, but I now have the updated devtools from the ADC site. How do I deinstall the devtools that I just installed? (Or should I just install the updated devtools and they'll install over the old devtools.)

Just install the new ones over the top. The button in the installer will say "Upgrade" rather than "Install" if you have the old ones installed already.

[Moonray]

Originally posted by dcarmich:
* How do I tell the OS what 'odd' extensioned files are (ie. MOD/S3M ---> open with PlayerPRO (a music app) and let PlayerPRO open them and show them in the 'Open' dialog box? (tried MacModPlay, didn't work.)?

Get the info for one of these files (select and Cmd-I or right-click -> Get Info), there's an 'Open with' where you can choose the Application to open that file or all files of that kind.

-

[Gul Banana]

Incidentally, chsh should work - open Terminal preferences and make sure it's set to "Execute the default login shell" rather than "Execute /bin/tcsh". tcsh does have lots of goodies, though - anyone who'd like a quick way to enable lots of them, download http://phunt.net/.tcshrc

[smeger]

You can also download the contents of a webpage link by option-clicking the link.

[suthercd]

On the menu bar at the top of the screen is a HELP menu. It is application specific and is worth the time to work through the topics there. There are so many features on the Mac that it would be a shame to not be aware of as many as possible as soon as possible.

Many of your questions are answered there.

To permanently change you shell to bash, you will need to enable your root account, which os done through the Netinfo manager, Security Menu. In OS X, 99% of the super user capabilities are available to you as an admin account. man sudo goes into detail.


Craig

[wadesworld]

Originally posted by suthercd:

To permanently change you shell to bash, you will need to enable your root account, which os done through the Netinfo manager, Security Menu. In OS X, 99% of the super user capabilities are available to you as an admin account. man sudo goes into detail.

No, you don't need to enable the root account.

I've been using OS X since DP4 and have never enabled the root account, or found a reason for doing so.

If you want to do something as root, use:

sudo <command>

If you want a root shell, do:

sudo -s

Wade