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I'm on High Sierra, but still waiting as I have huge issues with deprecating the old Safari Extensions API. I really don't want everything to be an app, and the

I'm on High Sierra, but still waiting as I have huge issues with deprecating the old Safari Extensions API. I really don't want everything to be an app, and the uninstall procedure on the Mac has always felt weird - coming from Windows - so I'm thinking about how I could run Safari with no extensions and instead use equivalents in Chrome to compensate.

saagarjha 8y ago
> don't want everything to be an app, and the uninstall procedure on the Mac has always felt weird Drag the app to the trash?
- jedieaston 8y ago
  You really have to run something like AppCleaner because just about every vendor throws files around in /Library and ~/Library, which aren't deleted with the bundle being put in the trash.
  - ztjio 8y ago
    This is no different from any other OS
  - kstrauser 8y ago
    Does that actually matter in practice? I don't remember the last time those files actually caused problems, other than the fact that they take non-zero disk space.
    - chrisfinazzo 8y ago
      The same behavior may be present on Windows for all I know. I've used Win7 a handful of times and Win 10 once or twice, so I don't have a good handle on how the Registry deals with uninstalls these days. My complaints re disk space are mostly still around because SSD prices are still not cheap compared to spinning disks. For example, I went from 80 GB (2005 Dell Latitude) to 120 GB (2007 MBP) to 256 GB (2013 MBP). Desktop drives at the time were probably triple to quadruple the storage at half the price, so it's still an issue. To migrate everything to an SSD in my next machine will take somewhere between 1-2 TB, and last I checked, the 1 TB option on a MacBook Pro was $600.
    - wrasee 8y ago
      True. But it can be a non-trivial amount of space, and (especially on SSD) that can matter. The first review I see for AppCleaner on the MAS right now is from a very happy user who just reclaimed 19 GB on their MacBook Air after a first run on a 4 year old machine. For that user, hard not to disagree that that matters. Also: 7 GB was from AirMail not deleting its 'junk'. If that junk was in fact its internal cache of emails then that user has thought that those emails had gone with the app, while in fact they were still carrying them around. Now that could be a very big deal. (Unfair to assume, but a reasonable scenario).
  - chrisfinazzo 8y ago
    When Apple bought Test Flight, I can remember hearing the ATP guys talk about it and come to the conclusion that Apple probably hates when a 3rd party service exists to cover some corner case that they don't do themselves. The fact that the Installers don't do well with this kind of situation is probably an indication they should survey the landscape and buy one of them so it can be integrated.
  - derefr 8y ago
    It’s really a shame; Apple has produced a number of tools (XCode.appp, Server.app, Install macOS.app) that demonstrate how you’re supposed to handle the placement of support files like this. Delete any of those apps, and their entire footprint on the system is gone. There’s also things like Garage Band’s downloaded instrument files, which do stick around... but only because other apps (e.g. Logic) can also use them.

saagarjha 8y ago

> don't want everything to be an app, and the uninstall procedure on the Mac has always felt weird Drag the app to the trash?

jedieaston 8y ago
You really have to run something like AppCleaner because just about every vendor throws files around in /Library and ~/Library, which aren't deleted with the bundle being put in the trash.
- ztjio 8y ago
  This is no different from any other OS
- kstrauser 8y ago
  Does that actually matter in practice? I don't remember the last time those files actually caused problems, other than the fact that they take non-zero disk space.
  - chrisfinazzo 8y ago
    The same behavior may be present on Windows for all I know. I've used Win7 a handful of times and Win 10 once or twice, so I don't have a good handle on how the Registry deals with uninstalls these days. My complaints re disk space are mostly still around because SSD prices are still not cheap compared to spinning disks. For example, I went from 80 GB (2005 Dell Latitude) to 120 GB (2007 MBP) to 256 GB (2013 MBP). Desktop drives at the time were probably triple to quadruple the storage at half the price, so it's still an issue. To migrate everything to an SSD in my next machine will take somewhere between 1-2 TB, and last I checked, the 1 TB option on a MacBook Pro was $600.
  - wrasee 8y ago
    True. But it can be a non-trivial amount of space, and (especially on SSD) that can matter. The first review I see for AppCleaner on the MAS right now is from a very happy user who just reclaimed 19 GB on their MacBook Air after a first run on a 4 year old machine. For that user, hard not to disagree that that matters. Also: 7 GB was from AirMail not deleting its 'junk'. If that junk was in fact its internal cache of emails then that user has thought that those emails had gone with the app, while in fact they were still carrying them around. Now that could be a very big deal. (Unfair to assume, but a reasonable scenario).
- chrisfinazzo 8y ago
  When Apple bought Test Flight, I can remember hearing the ATP guys talk about it and come to the conclusion that Apple probably hates when a 3rd party service exists to cover some corner case that they don't do themselves. The fact that the Installers don't do well with this kind of situation is probably an indication they should survey the landscape and buy one of them so it can be integrated.
- derefr 8y ago
  It’s really a shame; Apple has produced a number of tools (XCode.appp, Server.app, Install macOS.app) that demonstrate how you’re supposed to handle the placement of support files like this. Delete any of those apps, and their entire footprint on the system is gone. There’s also things like Garage Band’s downloaded instrument files, which do stick around... but only because other apps (e.g. Logic) can also use them.