Just now I needed to copy a file I had download to my Partners Desktop
in her profile on my powerbook.
Without giving it much thought I switched to the terminal app, su'd to
root, issued the cp command, dragged the file from my desktop into the
terminal to give the source path and then typed the first 2 letters of
each part of the path to her desktop and used the tab auto-complete to
finish the path. Hitting the enter key the job was done in less than 5
seconds and then it struck me how integrated the Mac and BSD methods of
achieving a task have become in my thought. A year ago I would have
been trying to accomplish the whole thing with drag and drop and
getting frustrated by the strict permissions based approach of the OS
denying me access to her home folder. The un-"Mac"ness of this would
have infuriated me. Now my mind has integrated the methods of each OS
and I am able to use the "Mac-goodness" of drag and drop with the
savage "Don't mess with me" authority of the super-user and "no room
for error" exactness of the terminal do something in a way that is more
efficient /fun than either of these approaches would be on their own.
Of course being a Mac user at heart I had to then switch to her
profile to make sure the "Unix Magic" had really happened (cause I
couldn't see it happen with my own eyes) and to marvel at my own
cleverness when the file was actually there on her desktop.
Made my morning.
Rob
- BSD / Mac style Rob Findlay
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