[Discuss] os x postresql startup question

[bill at horne.net (Bill Horne)]

On 1/2/2015 4:34 PM, Edward Ned Harvey (blu) wrote:
>> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
>> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Eric Chadbourne
>>
>> I just got a new mac mini for the holidays. I?ve been living on gnu/linux for
>> the last decade and it?s kind of fun to play in another OS.  Learning lots of
>> new stuff.
> BTW, if you're used to linux and new to osx, here are a couple of useful tips:

Oh please please please tell me more. I need more! ;-)

> OSX uses a case insensitive filesystem.  Don't expect anything different and don't try to change it.  You'll shoot yourself trying.

Mixed emotions: I was surprised to find that Yosemite has an option to 
create "case sensitive" file systems. I used it, more to feel at home 
than anything else.

> Absolutely embrace timemachine.  It sets the gold standard that everyone else should strive to.

That's nice to know: my servers are going to be moving lots of data 
around, but I have to be able to prioritize things on-the-fly. Can 
Timemachine be used in that environment?

> Anytime you hear somebody say "It's just BSD" shun them and call out their ignorance.  Nobody says that who knows jack about macs.  To say that OSX is BSD is just as smart and useful as saying Windows is VMS.  There's a kernel of truth (see what I did there?) that has no application in the real world.  They are 100% different OSes with no similarities.

Truer words were never spoken!

> You are learning about launchd.  Keep it up.  Don't mess with it too much - generally speaking the out-of-the-box configuration is right, and you'll cause problems for yourself by disabling stuff.  But for academic and/or troubleshooting purposes, valuable knowledge.

I'm going to be fine-tuning permissions for various services, so I'd 
appreciate pointers to updated info on how it's used in Yosemite.

> Forget about macports and fink - Install homebrew.  You'll notice occasionally, some tool is missing, which you would like to install via yum or apt, but of course, there is no package manager in OSX.  The first one you'll probably notice is wget.  In 2 seconds, you can install homebrew, and then "brew install wget."

My employer has used fink in the past, but I'm agnostic since I've no 
experience with it. What are the pluses and minuses of fink or macports 
vs. homebrew?

> Before you go crazy installing stuff with homebrew, install XCode and the XCode command line utilities.  This will get most of the stuff you are missing - build tools, which I think include make but not automake, or something like that.  But at least it includes stuff like svn and git and gcc and most of what you care about.  In my world, I install XCode and XCode command line tools, homebrew, and brew install wget.  And generally speaking, that's the end of the story.  Rarely ever need to install any command-line utilities beyond that.

I'm not likely to be doing any custom apps on my machines, but I'm very 
interested in ways to increase I/O throughput. Most of the "programming" 
is in scripts, moving large files, and I'm looking for ways to improve 
performance.

For example, OSX 10.10 allows me to mount Thunderbolt interfaces which 
can be used for machine-to-machine transfers. Is there any reason not to?

> Newbies do a lot of browsing the "Applications" folder, and linking a zillion things to their dock.  That's good while you're a newbie, learning what's available.  Before too long, you just hit Command-Space and type the name of what you want into spotlight.

Can I set up my own keyboard codes /and/ have them follow me between 
machines?

> Under system preferences, go to your mouse and trackpad.  Actually watch their tutorials.  Extremely useful to learn the gestures, so you know about launchpad and mission control and multiple desktops.  Literally in the hundreds of users that I've supported using macs - as soon as somebody got used to the trackpad, they never go back.  It's universal that all users prefer the mac trackpad over a mouse or any alternative that's available in windows or other platforms.  It actually becomes the #1 repeat mac-buying factor in peoples' choices for a new system in later years.

Please point me to any tutorials you recommend: I'm constantly changing 
between a touchpad and a mouse (docked) environment, so I am very 
interested in ways to make my interface more efficient.

> Personal preference:
>
> Launch Finder.
>      Change to View As List.
>      Click on View / Show Path Bar

Thanks for your help!

Bill