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OSX To Feature Portable User Accounts?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the home-you-can-take-with-you dept.

eldavojohn writes "A new patent filed by Apple is causing speculation that OSX is soon to receive a new feature. From the article: '[the patent states] that the user account may be stored alongside general data storage or "other functionality". All of which seems to suggest that at some time soon we may be able to load our user accounts onto an iPod, hard drive or USB keydrive and take them wherever we go.'"

12 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Impressive by TCM · · Score: 5, Funny

    If only other systems had thought of that. You could implement it so that all the data of one user is stored in a single directory, called home directory.

    We could even invent a new notation specifically for that. Like, I don't know, ~user/ or something.

    Man, Apple users get all the goodies. :(

    --
    Of course it runs NetBSD. BTC: 1NT7QvbetmANwaMzhpVL6
    1. Re:Impressive by P.+Niss · · Score: 1, Funny

      I might put up the PDF of the project up if people are interested.

      No.

  2. = instant rootkit! by dolphinling · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wheee, I'll put my root account on my ipod and then I can take over any box I want! Woohoo!

    Except wait. I don't run OSX. I run Linux. And I don't have an ipod.

    Oh well.

    --
    There are 11 types of people in the world: those who can count in binary, and those who can't.
    1. Re:= instant rootkit! by 44BSD · · Score: 3, Funny

      He used some wicked-ass crypto to turn binary into Roman numerals, in 7337-speak. Don't be hatin!

  3. So when... by Quaoar · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...does Apple release their 5TB iPod to help make my porn collection mobile? Or am I going to have to carry around a backpack full of them?

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
  4. [offtopic] Binary fun by toadlife · · Score: 5, Funny

    "There are 11 types of people in the world: those who can count in binary, and those who can't.

    So what is the third type? Those who think they can?

    --
    I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
  5. Re:Prior art? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Don't worry. That just means Knoppix is illegal. Only The Terrarists use it. The USA's patent system is THE BEST IN THE WURLDS.

  6. So Apple patents automounting home directories ? by ccandreva · · Score: 4, Funny

    Amazing. To bad nobody thought of that 20 years ago.

    Oh wait.

  7. Re:In the palm of your hand? by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, but it's in a proprietary encrypted format which is unreadable without specialized equipment. (That has all been reverse-engineered to read the format: the original creator refuses to open their toolkit.)

    --
    'Sensible' is a curse word.
  8. Re:In the palm of your hand? by dmd · · Score: 2, Funny

    You must have really fucking tiny palms if that's all you can carry.

  9. Re:As an Apple fanboy ... by type40 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Then you must sell any organs that you can do without and get a second Mac.
    Just sell both your kidneys, then you can have a Mac at home and the dialysis clinic!!

    --
    "You can see I know very little about pimp policy." George McGovern.
  10. Re:As an Apple fanboy ... by kitzilla · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sorry: the kidneys went for my now-obsolete dual G5 PowerMac (one kidney for each IBM processor). In any case, Macs are cheaper these days: even a minor organ like a spleen ought to cover pretty much anyone's desktop needs.

    But I like the way you think ...

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