For those of you who didn't know, yes, on the older Mac's (ones with the hardware ROM) you can lock out boot volumes. You can even password protect the boot up. You just have to know how to program in Forth >:) As for alternatives, if your not completely tied to using the Mac OS, install your favorite flavor of Linux and use those lock down tools (which are more plentiful and complete than the existing Mac ones). Then there is the option (depending on how old the systems are) of using the original Lock Down directly from Apple, AtEase. This software is great for foiling a would be hacker since once the machine is booted, you have to have administrator access to shut it down again. It also came with some developer stuff (of course I have no idea how your going to get your hands on this stuff now) that enabled the boot password and other fun hardware hacks.
Whee!!!! Hooray for the old skool software that still sucks.
Okay, for you people griping about some of the features of OS X 10.2, here's what I've found from using the OS for over 2 months now (from some early dev releases up to the final release). - Mac OS 9 schtuff. Ugh, I got sick of troubleshooting Mac OS 9. Always having to use some 3rd party crap optimizer or file system rebuilder. Ugh! Fsck it and forget it. Thank you whoever wrote the HFS+ version of fsck. No more Norton Disk Wreaker for me (and it's true, you don't need it anymore!). All the whiners complaining about having to learn a few new tricks. Please, if you've stopped learning, you must be brain dead. I love learning new stuff and Mac OS X has been a great challenge (but I really wish some things were harder to figure out. Go Apple for making an OS like Unix intuitive). - You *nix freaks. Yeah, you. I'm not leaving you out of this one. Quit asking for x86 hardware. Please, let us have our RISC processors and vector optimization. I don't want to be stuff trying to figure out BIOS programming again. Open Firmware is really powerful and really neat (just ask SUN!). Please grow a brain and realize that "platform" means the whole widget, not just the OS. Just because you use a *nix doesn't mean your on a different platform if it's still on x86. As for "limited" selection of hardware, fine, you got me there, there is less hardware available for the Mac. But guess what? It's better that way because I don't have to deal with driver conflicts, cheap chips, or major meltdowns because I bought a $49 ethernet card from Generic, Inc. I know that is it says "Mac Compatible" it's been tested, and it will work (99% of the time, yeah, I know all about ATTO and Adaptec and their wonderful disclosure BS). Now then, what else can I yell about. - Plumbing! Yes, plumbing. The software behind the software. All those nifty services that Mac OS X uses. NetInfo (yay, NeXT!), lookupd (um, it's gotten better, really), lpd, lpr, named, mDNS, CUPS, Quartz (and Quartz Extreme), etc, et. al. Go read the website. I don't feel like listing it all. Man, I even recompiled a few *nix binaries from source and they worked! Now that's pretty nifty if you ask me. As for you bash fans, they added the bash shell too, just to make you happy. Now wasn't that nice? - And to those who think that they are entitled to a free upgrade from 10.1. Really? Are you a member of the ADC? Did you pay your ADC membership dues? You didn't? Oh, well, I guess you'll have to pay $129 like anyone else not part of the "testing" demographic. Yes, I got my copy of Jaguar early. Yes, I've been using it since BEFORE it was release in March 2001. Now shut it. If you want it, pay for it. Otherwise warez is and break the law. If you get busted, Apple is not going to bail you out for your own stupidity. Gah! - I could rant more if you'd like but this is really defocusing my brain. I use Macs. I have M$ and all it's malarkey. I also use Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris 7,8, and 9, and only when I am forced to Windowz. But Mac OS X has made me like to work on computers again. Mac OS X is...is... It's one of the best things to come out of the computing industry since the Apple I. If you don't like it, you need to ask better questions and stop complaining. But some people just want to whine. Here, have some cheese. Now shut up. Now I'm going to shut up.
Mod this down to -5 (raving lunatic) (god, I've been reading/. too much, I even have a sig file now)
Not just bitch about the problem. Maybe the big issue should be, why is the broadband market designed after the flawed and dying telco market. Think about this. Telco's have enough lines so that approximately 10% of their customer base can use 100% of the available lines at any given time. That means, that is everyone wanted to make a phone call at the same time, only 10% of them would get the other end of the line to ring. Everyone else would get either a prerecorded message saying all the lines are in use (a la Sept. 11th when everyone called New York, and New York couldn't call for help), or you'd get nothing. A dead line. So cable companies have used this same model for their business and have suddenly realized that they made a big boo-boo. If you say "always on", that means for every user that subscribes to your system, that's bandwidth that you have to have available. Well, when you only have 1 line and 10 people want to get through, you are stuck apologizing, and you lose money, time, and future customers. So they need to get off their collective asses, build more bandwidth, and get this internet thing up off the ground and profitable for them. They should never have more users than available bandwidth. It's just asking to fail. It's a poor business model. It's way too short sighted, and above all else, it's the only thing out there. I really wish these people would wake up and get with it. Make the customer happy, and the customer will keep coming back. As long as you can deliver. When you can't deliver, kiss the customer and their money good-bye.
DAQ42
I just heard this amazingly sick story and puked on my keyboard. Does anyone have a squeegie?
That show was the funniest thing I have seen in months (mind you, I don't get you much, and I used to watch the Japanese version on FoodTV religiously), but the American twist on this Japanese crackpipe had me rolling on the floor during the opening credits. The other interesting thing I noticed about the show was the amazing ego battle between the two competitors. They threw in these preshow interviews and clips of the chefs and these guys were real jerk-offs. It was the funniest thing to watch them puff up thier heads and try to cook at the same time. Plus the announcers were complete joe-sixpack morons (at least one of them kept quipping with things like "I sure to love me some crab legs"). I couldn't stop watching until the end and I actually felt like these two buffoons were serious about this competition. And then there was Shatner, the man, the myth, the legend. He has really mellowed since his hissy fits about being typecast in sci-fi for the rest of his career, and only being famous for his role as the Kirkster. His interview on Conan O'Brian earlier this week was one of the funniest displays of someone purposely trying to make as big a fool of himself as possible and succeeding better than anyone. He does not take himself seriously anymore. Someone must have slipped him some SOMA or something because he has become one of the coolest Hollywoods personalities out there. I sure hope this gets through at least one season so I can record them all on my Tivo and rip them to DVD. Man, talk about classic comedy.
he claims there are only 2 kinds of computers that people use (Microsoft Windows and "free" OS's). Not true and don't shove me into some marginal niche either. There is always the Macintosh. It may only hold the 5% spot of the market share but more and more people are seeing how well it is serving as an alternative to Bill Gates dream. In fact, it was the inspiration for Mr. Gates GUI OS. Please don't deny me my right to use a better OS on better hardware.
Slashdot Mirror
For those of you who didn't know, yes, on the older Mac's (ones with the hardware ROM) you can lock out boot volumes. You can even password protect the boot up. You just have to know how to program in Forth >:)
As for alternatives, if your not completely tied to using the Mac OS, install your favorite flavor of Linux and use those lock down tools (which are more plentiful and complete than the existing Mac ones). Then there is the option (depending on how old the systems are) of using the original Lock Down directly from Apple, AtEase. This software is great for foiling a would be hacker since once the machine is booted, you have to have administrator access to shut it down again. It also came with some developer stuff (of course I have no idea how your going to get your hands on this stuff now) that enabled the boot password and other fun hardware hacks.
Whee!!!!
Hooray for the old skool software that still sucks.
Okay, for you people griping about some of the features of OS X 10.2, here's what I've found from using the OS for over 2 months now (from some early dev releases up to the final release).
/. too much, I even have a sig file now)
- Mac OS 9 schtuff. Ugh, I got sick of troubleshooting Mac OS 9. Always having to use some 3rd party crap optimizer or file system rebuilder. Ugh! Fsck it and forget it. Thank you whoever wrote the HFS+ version of fsck. No more Norton Disk Wreaker for me (and it's true, you don't need it anymore!). All the whiners complaining about having to learn a few new tricks. Please, if you've stopped learning, you must be brain dead. I love learning new stuff and Mac OS X has been a great challenge (but I really wish some things were harder to figure out. Go Apple for making an OS like Unix intuitive).
- You *nix freaks. Yeah, you. I'm not leaving you out of this one. Quit asking for x86 hardware. Please, let us have our RISC processors and vector optimization. I don't want to be stuff trying to figure out BIOS programming again. Open Firmware is really powerful and really neat (just ask SUN!). Please grow a brain and realize that "platform" means the whole widget, not just the OS. Just because you use a *nix doesn't mean your on a different platform if it's still on x86. As for "limited" selection of hardware, fine, you got me there, there is less hardware available for the Mac. But guess what? It's better that way because I don't have to deal with driver conflicts, cheap chips, or major meltdowns because I bought a $49 ethernet card from Generic, Inc. I know that is it says "Mac Compatible" it's been tested, and it will work (99% of the time, yeah, I know all about ATTO and Adaptec and their wonderful disclosure BS). Now then, what else can I yell about.
- Plumbing! Yes, plumbing. The software behind the software. All those nifty services that Mac OS X uses. NetInfo (yay, NeXT!), lookupd (um, it's gotten better, really), lpd, lpr, named, mDNS, CUPS, Quartz (and Quartz Extreme), etc, et. al. Go read the website. I don't feel like listing it all. Man, I even recompiled a few *nix binaries from source and they worked! Now that's pretty nifty if you ask me. As for you bash fans, they added the bash shell too, just to make you happy. Now wasn't that nice?
- And to those who think that they are entitled to a free upgrade from 10.1. Really? Are you a member of the ADC? Did you pay your ADC membership dues? You didn't? Oh, well, I guess you'll have to pay $129 like anyone else not part of the "testing" demographic. Yes, I got my copy of Jaguar early. Yes, I've been using it since BEFORE it was release in March 2001. Now shut it. If you want it, pay for it. Otherwise warez is and break the law. If you get busted, Apple is not going to bail you out for your own stupidity. Gah!
- I could rant more if you'd like but this is really defocusing my brain. I use Macs. I have M$ and all it's malarkey. I also use Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris 7,8, and 9, and only when I am forced to Windowz. But Mac OS X has made me like to work on computers again. Mac OS X is...is...
It's one of the best things to come out of the computing industry since the Apple I. If you don't like it, you need to ask better questions and stop complaining. But some people just want to whine. Here, have some cheese. Now shut up. Now I'm going to shut up.
Mod this down to -5 (raving lunatic)
(god, I've been reading
VNC server, eh?
Try OSXvnc-server.
Look on Stepwise or versiontracker.
Only issue though is security (or lack there of) for this version.
Not just bitch about the problem. Maybe the big issue should be, why is the broadband market designed after the flawed and dying telco market. Think about this. Telco's have enough lines so that approximately 10% of their customer base can use 100% of the available lines at any given time. That means, that is everyone wanted to make a phone call at the same time, only 10% of them would get the other end of the line to ring. Everyone else would get either a prerecorded message saying all the lines are in use (a la Sept. 11th when everyone called New York, and New York couldn't call for help), or you'd get nothing. A dead line. So cable companies have used this same model for their business and have suddenly realized that they made a big boo-boo. If you say "always on", that means for every user that subscribes to your system, that's bandwidth that you have to have available. Well, when you only have 1 line and 10 people want to get through, you are stuck apologizing, and you lose money, time, and future customers. So they need to get off their collective asses, build more bandwidth, and get this internet thing up off the ground and profitable for them. They should never have more users than available bandwidth. It's just asking to fail. It's a poor business model. It's way too short sighted, and above all else, it's the only thing out there. I really wish these people would wake up and get with it. Make the customer happy, and the customer will keep coming back. As long as you can deliver. When you can't deliver, kiss the customer and their money good-bye.
DAQ42
I just heard this amazingly sick story and puked on my keyboard. Does anyone have a squeegie?
That show was the funniest thing I have seen in months (mind you, I don't get you much, and I used to watch the Japanese version on FoodTV religiously), but the American twist on this Japanese crackpipe had me rolling on the floor during the opening credits. The other interesting thing I noticed about the show was the amazing ego battle between the two competitors. They threw in these preshow interviews and clips of the chefs and these guys were real jerk-offs. It was the funniest thing to watch them puff up thier heads and try to cook at the same time. Plus the announcers were complete joe-sixpack morons (at least one of them kept quipping with things like "I sure to love me some crab legs"). I couldn't stop watching until the end and I actually felt like these two buffoons were serious about this competition. And then there was Shatner, the man, the myth, the legend. He has really mellowed since his hissy fits about being typecast in sci-fi for the rest of his career, and only being famous for his role as the Kirkster. His interview on Conan O'Brian earlier this week was one of the funniest displays of someone purposely trying to make as big a fool of himself as possible and succeeding better than anyone. He does not take himself seriously anymore. Someone must have slipped him some SOMA or something because he has become one of the coolest Hollywoods personalities out there. I sure hope this gets through at least one season so I can record them all on my Tivo and rip them to DVD. Man, talk about classic comedy.
he claims there are only 2 kinds of computers that people use (Microsoft Windows and "free" OS's). Not true and don't shove me into some marginal niche either. There is always the Macintosh. It may only hold the 5% spot of the market share but more and more people are seeing how well it is serving as an alternative to Bill Gates dream. In fact, it was the inspiration for Mr. Gates GUI OS. Please don't deny me my right to use a better OS on better hardware.