[SrTec]

You know I have been reading these posts day in and day out solid since the new release. It's only gotten me more and more confused about where our beloved OS is going. It seems that when I left that other computer mkt years ago, I was in a weird way coming home to where I belong. Now though with all this talk about command lines and kernels I feel that I'm being pulled back into a strict military based world of those other guys. �
I'm not a programmer so how much of this stuff do I need to know to keep my machine and others, locally, running in top form? I was never in the military, so the only kernels I ever knew were the few at the bottom of a popcorn bowl and one known as Klink (and that one had the command lines). Ya I was never a comedian either yet I'm sure that all this UNIX stuff is comically frustrating to others too. What ever happened to "User-friendly"? That's why I came here (Mac) in the first place.

Ok, I will try to explain the problem with your post here.....

This message board is for newbies and "power users" alike. Yes, if you are a newbie you DONT have to know ANYTHING about command line or kernels. Much like a person buying a car doens;t HAVE to know how the car operates. But this board also has the "power users" who WANT to know what's going on under the hood. There are people on these boards that have used Unix for many years (my self included) and are VERY excited to have a unix command line to play with. We like to share things we find with each other.

If you find yourself asking "what the heXX is this person talking about" and you dont have the gumption to care, then look for another thread to read.

You are putting yourself in the "Auto club", to go back to my previous analogy, and are wondering why people are talking about boring out their engines and installing larger throtle bodies.. well ummm.... then dont go to the "Auto Club" if that upsets you.

Other wise, please read on and maybe learn while you are at it

-Quantum

[segaslave]

ok, now i think X is overly user friendly, the os is too controlling, i mean i set it up on machine, made one account for it, everything on the box should be ownd by that user account right? no instead i get permission errors when i touch anything deeper than the user folder. ive gone into the terminal (love unix by the way) su to root and still get priv errors. ivee used windows alot in the past(sadly) and i totally feel like im using a windows machine now, the os talls me what i can and cant open or move! they made X so user friendly that you cant mess it up less you try, but for power users you cant easly accesss the stuff you want, you have to hack at the os just to get what you want. i want a new icon for the drive, or for the 'computer' button in the finder(why its default to an imac i dont know?!) so i have to go through a whole deal just to change it. all the basic options are in X but just disabled makes no sense other than over simplifying, X should be the power user OS with everything unlockd not a consumer based os.

[Ernie]

You don't need to know anything about UNIX or the command line to use OS X. It will run happily and smoothly without you ever having to open the terminal.

However, having the command line available is a great thing. It is an extremely powerful tool for those who know how to use it. In the long run it will be a great benifit to the Mac platform.

So if you dont care about UNIX dont worry, you dont have to know anything about it to use, administer and enjoy OS X. :�)

[SrTec]

Quantum,
Your are mistaken to assume that I do not "WANT to know what's going on under the hood". I did ask "how much of this stuff do I need to know to keep my machine and others, locally, running in top form?". I have a deep desire to know, yet Apple didn't send me any info on their UNIX based system, except a little book for a two year old, that didn't tell me squat. Did you see the troubleshootiong section, are you kidding me?
I won't go on with arguing the point of having to learn UNIX and I will read as many of these threads as possible to pick it up. I was just making a point as to the OS not as friendly as Apple is making it out to be. And by the way I restore muscle cars, old furnature and photo's on the side, I guess that it's just in my nature. Read between the lines.
I really enjoyed Segaslave's post, thanks I needed that.
Thanks

Hey Quantum fusion...I'm not in the "Auto club" But I am really willing to get my hands dirty and learn. What Apple has done is brilliant. If you don't want to use the command line...then just DON'T. But that is just my humble opinion. I think you are 100% right on this one. cheerios

[DannyVTim]

segaslave select each disk you have with the inspector in the finder. At the bottom you'll notice an ingore privilages check box. Turn this on for each drive and reboot and your problem will go away.

[Richard Clark]

I'm running OS X at home and at work. I'm also a power user in many regards. However, it's more simple for home than at work. OS X will work fine for you. From what it sounds like you need information. ArsTechnica has an in depth on OS X that can be very useful. There are many reviews out there now that can show you what you need or don't need.

For the time being it appears that until there are diagnostic programs and the OS really examined bit by bit that the command line will need to be used to optimize. I'm sure someone might come right back at me saying that Norton can repair OS X volumes and that or other programs for that matter. I would be cautious of it since Norton Utilites for the Mac came out last fall while OS X was in Beta. Of course there have been changes. Also some of these programs are only going to work in Classic mode to repair items. The command line isn't that bad but I understand where you are coming from for ease of use.

Alot of it comes down to this being the early days of OS X. There will be products coming for OS X and others being ported over from Linux to take advantage of the UI.

A really good thing to remember Sr Tech is that you've found a good resource here. If it isn't user friendly right now it will be due to the resources and great people that problem solve here. Best of luck to you.