Can I do this in MacOS X ??
This was part of a reply in another thread. It's making me nervous about switching to OS X, really !
[quote]Originally posted by janitor:
<strong>hrm. not quite.
in OS X applications don't like to be seperated from the Apps folder at the base of OS X, updaters don't find them and permissions get screwy.
.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Aarghh! Are you sure about this ? If this is true, then I see this as a MAJOR downgrade from older MacOS. On my old Mac (with sys 7.1), I'm placing my apps in different folders, anywhere on the HD. I usually class them by "usefullness". For example :
1- One folder for all the wordprocessing apps,
2- Another folder for all the graphics apps (like Photoshop, Color-it! and some others),
3- A folder for the drawing apps, like FreeHand and Illustrator,
4- A folder for the maths and science apps.
Etc.... Those folders are placed at the root level of some partition, so when I open the partition, I see them clearly, all in order. This partition do not have a sytem folder. It's just an application partition.
Can I do that in OS X ? Please !!!?
[quote]Originally posted by janitor:
<strong>hrm. not quite.
in OS X applications don't like to be seperated from the Apps folder at the base of OS X, updaters don't find them and permissions get screwy.
.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Aarghh! Are you sure about this ? If this is true, then I see this as a MAJOR downgrade from older MacOS. On my old Mac (with sys 7.1), I'm placing my apps in different folders, anywhere on the HD. I usually class them by "usefullness". For example :
1- One folder for all the wordprocessing apps,
2- Another folder for all the graphics apps (like Photoshop, Color-it! and some others),
3- A folder for the drawing apps, like FreeHand and Illustrator,
4- A folder for the maths and science apps.
Etc.... Those folders are placed at the root level of some partition, so when I open the partition, I see them clearly, all in order. This partition do not have a sytem folder. It's just an application partition.
Can I do that in OS X ? Please !!!?
Comments
It really doesn't matter. The Application folder is at the root level. Inside it you can use folders to categorize your apps anyway you like. But I guarantee you, it is unnecessary.
The OSX way of doing things is a lot better. Apps you use frequently you put in the Dock. Any other app you can access instantly by Command-A to open the application's folder.
<strong>Any other app you can access instantly by Command-A to open the application's folder.</strong><hr></blockquote>
But suppose I have 4 partitions on my internal HD. Can I put all my normal applications scatered inside a partition without the boot system ? If yes, can I put some of them in the Dock anyway, even if they're not in the special "Apps" folder ?
Sorry, this may be a newbie question, but I need to know.
Apple ****ed up by using NeXT's installer with pax. Packages and pax... pfsshht! What a terrible terrible mistake... <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
Apple's installer requires hard-coded paths to operate properly. Thus, most Apple apps need to stay put to be updated properly. What happens if you move something like Mail.app and run an update? Well, the update package will simply assume Mail.app is where it should be and will write to that location. If Mail.app isn't in your /Applications folder, you'll get a new folder there called Mail.app with some funky stuff that should have been put in the real Mail.app. You'll then probably have to muck around in the terminal to get Mail.app updated with those files properly.
Third-party apps, however, should almost never encounter that problem. You can put those apps just about anywhere you want to. The only problem is that if you put them anywhere below your home directory (like your desktop, for example) no other users can get to them. That's why Apple is encouraging the use of the universal Applications folder. You can put your third-party apps on another drive if you want. Just make sure the permissions are okay so other users can get to it (they should be okay by default).
To answer your second part, yes, you can put anything from anywhere in the Dock (provided it isn't in another user's home directory, as I mentioned before). You should be able to put your third-party apps anywhere you want, including those other partitions or drives.
I've used System 6-7.5 and Mac OS 8-9.2 and was also quite accustomed to having apps scattered everywhere. When I got the Public Beta of X, I willingly forced myself to try Apple's method. I've loved it since! Here's what you might want to try:
Put your third-party apps on the various partitions however you like, leaving Apple's apps in their default locations. Then, make those four folders inside the /Applications directory (Wordprocessing, Graphics, Drawing, Science) and drop aliases of your third-party apps into them. That way, you'll have your Apple-branded apps where they need to be, your third-party apps stored where you want them stored, and all of it is available by hitting apple-option-a.
Of course, there are other ways that could get more complicated by making Unix symlinks to the other partitions for the /Applications folder, but you probably don't want to worry about that yet.
[gzl: don't bypass the censor filter.]
[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]
[ 02-28-2002: Message edited by: gorgonzola ]</p>
[ 02-26-2002: Message edited by: Mr.Potatohead ]</p>
<strong>Here's the story:
Put the apps on the various partitions however you like. Then, make those four folders inside the /Applications directory (Wordprocessing, Graphics, Drawing, Science) and drop aliases into them. That way, you'll have your Apple-branded apps where they need to be, your third-party apps stored where you want them stored, and all of it is available by hitting apple-option-a.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
so, starfleet, you're saying that the updaters will follow the aliases to the actual applications? I mean, if I move Mail.app to another location and make an alias to it in the /Applications any future updates will not be screwed up? Good to know, if true.
I personally like the universal applications and I love the home directory structure, but that's just a personal opinion. I was back in OS 9 for a while tonight for the first time in a long time and I realized how cludgy everything is without the Dock, launchbar and column view in the finder. OS X rocks. I just wish it was, dare I say it??, snappier
<strong>so, starfleet, you're saying that the updaters will follow the aliases to the actual applications? I mean, if I move Mail.app to another location and make an alias to it in the /Applications any future updates will not be screwed up? Good to know, if true.</strong><hr></blockquote>No, no, no. I think you misunderstand me there.
My whole point was that you *can't* (or shouldn't) move things that Apple's installer puts there. Mail.app must be in /Applications to be updated properly. If you put an alias there, it will probably be ignored and overwritten with that funky folder I described. Symlinks, however, might work, but I haven't personally tested this.
That part you quoted from me... ermm, I meant you could put third-party apps anywhere on the partitions you want and make aliases back to /Applications simply for convenience. Apple apps should be left where they are default installed. I have edited the previous post to make it more clear: [quote]Put your third-party apps on the various partitions however you like, leaving Apple's apps in their default locations. Then, make those four folders inside the /Applications directory (Wordprocessing, Graphics, Drawing, Science) and drop aliases of your third-party apps into them. That way, you'll have your Apple-branded apps where they need to be, your third-party apps stored where you want them stored, and all of it is available by hitting apple-option-a.<hr></blockquote>Any clearer now?
[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
<strong>Any clearer now?
[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, but you got my hopes up
<strong>
But suppose I have 4 partitions on my internal HD. Can I put all my normal applications scatered inside a partition without the boot system ? If yes, can I put some of them in the Dock anyway, even if they're not in the special "Apps" folder ?
Sorry, this may be a newbie question, but I need to know.</strong><hr></blockquote>
well, there are lot's of questions, like why 4 partitions? do you really think you'll have a folder full of lots of word processing apps (on OS X)?
but it's silly to get into all that. i think the big picture is, when you move to OS X, you will experiment with the GUI, and overall structure, much like you did when you first started using OS 6-7. And you will, through trial and error, find the manner of organization that works best for you, within this new environment. to think that the way that worked best for you (and you mind) in OS 7, will be the same in OS X is simply wrong. I promise you that once diving into OS X, you will find new (and much better) ways to organize your files, apps, life.
<strong>
well, there are lot's of questions, like why 4 partitions? do you really think you'll have a folder full of lots of word processing apps (on OS X)?
...
Well, I don't totally agree with you. Here's why, but I'll try to be very brief because I don't have time to elaborate.
The number of partitions isn't important for me, so I need the fewest number as possible. I've found that 4 partitions is ideal for many reasons. The most important to me, is security. I want all my documents to be isolated, so if I mess up the OS and its partition, all the files will remains intact even if I need to reinstall the OS. I need to isolate apps because they are the most able to screw things (some are using some disk caching technique and may corrupt the partition. Hello Netscape). I don't want them to corrupt the OS, so if they screw something, it's more likely that they shoot on their own foot (partition). No need to reinstall the OS then, and documents are safe too. Also, If I screw the OS itself, the apps partition will be safe and I wont have to reinstall the OS AND the apps too. So 3 partitions is a good thing. I want a fourth partition for an experimental OS, to mess with.
That way, you are really free to do wathever you want to do.
Also, it was part of the Mac allegory (is that an English word?) to let the user to place anything anywhere, freelly, like on a real desktop. We are losing parts of this with the new OS, it seems. As with my old Mac, I want to be totally free. I want to be able to place wathever I want anywhere on my HD. So the new OS way isn't an argument. The new environement must ADD options, not eliminating some of them.
So an "Apps" folder, locked on the HD, looks like prison to me. I want to remove that stupid folder. I was able to do "command-A" (or another key command) in the old OS and to find easily anything on the HD.
As for functionnality, my old sys 7.1 with few freeware/shareware extensions is really more efficient than OS X (I don't have protected memory and real multitasking but that's not the point).
<strong>As for functionnality, my old sys 7.1 with few freeware/shareware extensions is really more efficient than OS X (I don't have protected memory and real multitasking but that's not the point).</strong><hr></blockquote>
ugh. are you actually gunna buy this dual gigger u keep posting, and reposting about? the start of this thread was unecessary... the thread it was in was fine. poor old starfleetX has answered your question several times in exactly the same way... perhaps you should stick with 7.1... or 9.
What do you do about apps that install a boatload of extensions? You still need to reinstall them when you reinstall the OS. True?
The only App I feel comfortable about moving all over the place is Quark Xpress. Strange, eh?
--Mike