OS X Newbie Questions

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I'm still tripping around through this operating system. I have some questions for the gurus and such:



1. GCC, make, etc.

Where are they? Supposedly they were installed, but I don't seem to have them in my CLI path. How does one compile and install apps that come in source-code only? Is the compiler there, just hidden?



2. Window resizing frames

From what I can see, you can only resize a window by using the area in the lower right corner of it. Is there any way to get a frame around the whole window, a'la X11 or MS Windows?



3. ssh and X forwarding

When I use ssh to connect to one of my Linux boxes, I expect X forwarding to be set up automatically but it isn't. Is ssh under MacOS different in that regard?



4. root user

How do i get to it, and how do I set its password? It seems to have been set for me during the install.



I'm sure I'll think of more. Thanks!



jas

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    1. Those should be installed with the Developer Tools CD or package... so if you haven't done that, then you'll need to do so first.



    3. If you're using Apple's X11, then "ssh -X hostname" should get you X11 forwarding.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    2. Window resizing frames

    From what I can see, you can only resize a window by using the area in the lower right corner of it. Is there any way to get a frame around the whole window, a'la X11 or MS Windows?




    Some non-conforming apps do this, but the answer is really no, maximizing to fit the entire screen is considered wasting space and interferes with the user's access to other windows and the desktop where you can drag and drop among them. The rule is that a window should zoom as big as it needs to in order to reveal the window's contents. Obviously, if the contents in that window are larger than your screen will reveal, then it will go close to the edges.



    Quote:

    4. root user

    How do i get to it, and how do I set its password? It seems to have been set for me during the install.




    I believe you can either use the CLI or use NetInfo to give yourself root access. I can't remember the details. Be careful of root blah blah blah of course.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    [B]I'm still tripping around through this operating system. I have some questions for the gurus and such:



    1. GCC, make, etc.

    Where are they? Supposedly they were installed, but I don't seem to have them in my CLI path. How does one compile and install apps that come in source-code only? Is the compiler there, just hidden?



    You'll need to have installed the BSD subsystem, when you did the original OS X installation (its on by default, you would have had to have gone in and turned it off not to get this), and the Developer Tools, which come on a separate CD, and are also available as a download from the apple developer connection (free rego required).



    As for compiling/installing apps, the usual configure/make/make install will work for much of the time (assuming you've installed the developer tools); otherwise, it's worth looking at the fink project (http://fink.sourceforge.net/) for a debian-like source/binary distribution system, and darwinports (http://darwinports.opendarwin.org/) for a FreeBSD-ish ports system.



    Quote:

    2. Window resizing frames

    From what I can see, you can only resize a window by using the area in the lower right corner of it. Is there any way to get a frame around the whole window, a'la X11 or MS Windows?



    I'm afraid you're out of luck. Although, you can more-or-less use X11 as your main windowing system if you really want to...



    You could also try out one of the replacement Finders (the Finder is the program which manages your desktop and file browsing, by the way, ala Windows Explorer), like Pathfinder (http://www.cocoatech.com/), although I don't think any of them implement that specific feature.



    Quote:

    4. root user

    How do i get to it, and how do I set its password? It seems to have been set for me during the install.



    /Applications/Utilities/Netinfo Manager, go to the Security Menu and select enable Root User.



    Generally its just better to use sudo, and enter your admin password. Is there any particular reason why you would ever need to be actually logged in as root?
  • Reply 4 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by staphbaby

    and the Developer Tools, which come on a separate CD, and are also available as a download from the apple developer connection (free rego required).



    Looks like I'll be downloading. I got 3 CDs:



    1. OS X install (1 of 2)

    2. OS X "Restore?" disk (2 of 2)

    3. Blank CD-R



    Quote:



    As for compiling/installing apps, the usual configure/make/make install will work for much of the time (assuming you've installed the developer tools); otherwise, it's worth looking at the fink project



    That looks interesting, I'll grab it.



    Quote:

    although I don't think any of them implement that specific feature.



    Cool, thanks for the pointer.



    Quote:

    Generally its just better to use sudo, and enter your admin password. Is there any particular reason why you would ever need to be actually logged in as root? [/B]



    I didn't realize OS X had sudo installed. I'm just used to su'ing to the root user from a shell, not using sudo.



    jas
  • Reply 5 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MCQ

    3. If you're using Apple's X11, then "ssh -X hostname" should get you X11 forwarding.



    So it only works from an xterm apparently; I hadn't realized that. But still, ssh should set up the X11 forwarding by default, not force you to -X it.



    jas
  • Reply 6 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    Looks like I'll be downloading. I got 3 CDs:



    1. OS X install (1 of 2)

    2. OS X "Restore?" disk (2 of 2)

    3. Blank CD-R



    I went looking on the Apple site and only found a Developer's kit from December 2002. I installed it, and now I have gcc, make, etc. But I can't upgrade it; all of the upgrade downloads say I need OS X 10.2, and that all of my development needs should have been included with 10.3.



    Do I need to reinstall again?



    jas
  • Reply 7 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    I went looking on the Apple site and only found a Developer's kit from December 2002. I installed it, and now I have gcc, make, etc. But I can't upgrade it; all of the upgrade downloads say I need OS X 10.2, and that all of my development needs should have been included with 10.3.



    Do I need to reinstall again?




    If you are using 10.3, yes.



    There should be a script somewhere in the /Developer folder that will uninstall everything for you. In the current version, it's in Tools and it a perl script that has to be run from the terminal.



    After using that, go back to the connect.apple.com web site, choose the Download Software: Mac OS X section, then download:



    Xcode Tools v1.1



    Xcode is the name of Apple's new developer tools for 10.3.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    Looks like I'll be downloading. I got 3 CDs:



    1. OS X install (1 of 2)

    2. OS X "Restore?" disk (2 of 2)

    3. Blank CD-R





    From the sounds of it, you just got a new Mac. You should find a disk image of XCode at /Applications/Installers/.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    jasonvpjasonvp Posts: 33member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    [B]After using that, go back to the connect.apple.com web site, choose the Download Software: Mac OS X section, then download:



    Xcode Tools v1.1



    Xcode is the name of Apple's new developer tools for 10.3.



    OK, I have all of these files downloaded:



    Xcode_Tools_1.1.0[02-21].dm.gpart.bin

    Xcode_Tools_1.1.dmg.bin



    What the heck do I do with them? Please remember.. newbie. I know UNIX, but this is new territory for me. :-)



    Thanks!



    jas
  • Reply 10 of 15
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    I think all of the files are compressed, so opening each file would decompress each one. Then, open the XCode Tools 1.1.dmg and it should assemble itself from the parts, and mount the disk image. You should see it show up in the finder, and then there probably be a package install file to start the Xcode installation.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    What the heck do I do with them? Please remember.. newbie. I know UNIX, but this is new territory for me.



    Something to keep in mind, as I'm sure you already know, is that things like the developer tools are *not* targeted at newbies.



    Anyway, yes, each segment is binary encoded. Use Stuffit Expander to decode each segment first. Then, double click the Xcode_Tools_1.1.dmg file. It will mount a virtual disk image. Then, double click the Developer.mpkg file to start installing.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    Something to keep in mind, as I'm sure you already know, is that things like the developer tools are *not* targeted at newbies.



    Anyway, yes, each segment is binary encoded. Use Stuffit Expander to decode each segment first. Then, double click the Xcode_Tools_1.1.dmg file. It will mount a virtual disk image. Then, double click the Developer.mpkg file to start installing.




    I don't *think* that you have to decode each of them. Just run the installer from the first .dmg after decoding it (the one without the "part" on it) and it should go from there. I'm going from memory but I don't remember having to decode multiple parts when I installed the dev tools a few months ago.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    jasonvpjasonvp Posts: 33member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    Something to keep in mind, as I'm sure you already know, is that things like the developer tools are *not* targeted at newbies.



    Well, I'm no "newbie" to UNIX, compilers, makefiles, and other such fun. I'm just not up on how to drive a Mac yet. Thus the question. :-)



    I'll give the suggestions a try, thanks a bunch.



    jas
  • Reply 14 of 15
    staphbabystaphbaby Posts: 353member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasonvp

    Looks like I'll be downloading. I got 3 CDs:



    Quote:

    1. OS X install (1 of 2)



    Yep, that's the one to install the whole system, but not the DTs



    Quote:

    2. OS X "Restore?" disk (2 of 2)



    That's the one you use when you've accidentally deleted something, and you want to reinstall it



    Quote:

    I didn't realize OS X had sudo installed. I'm just used to su'ing to the root user from a shell, not using sudo.



    Its funny, but because I learnt 'nix on a Mac I've actually had the exact opposite experience - I found it deeply weird that the default position on Debian was to use root, not sudo.



    I think that makes me the freak though.



    Re: multipart disc images: they reassemble when you double-click the main one, but you'll probably have to decompress the others first. Just double-click them, they should be bound to Stuffit already.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    jasonvpjasonvp Posts: 33member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by staphbaby

    Re: multipart disc images: they reassemble when you double-click the main one, but you'll probably have to decompress the others first. Just double-click them, they should be bound to Stuffit already.



    It worked; thanks to everyone for the pointers and hints. Everything appears to have installed correctly.



    jas
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