4 ms·

I’m a fan of OpenBSD where I run ‘ps -ax’ and get a list of about 10 processes, all of whose purpose is obvious. On macOS I spend the first few days disabling

I’m a fan of OpenBSD where I run ‘ps -ax’ and get a list of about 10 processes, all of whose purpose is obvious. On macOS I spend the first few days disabling several dozen junk processes I didn’t ask for and don’t want. This includes classroom tools (??) and all kinds of syncing/ sharing daemons I have no use for. This exploit reinforces what we already know — computers are impossible to secure, you should reduce attack surface where possible. If you get a little privacy and performance out of it all the better.

cryptoegorophy 5y ago
I literarily just use safari and excel. Is there a guide on how to disable the rest of the junk such as classroom tools?
- astrange 5y ago
  Please don't turn off random stuff and expect your computer to still work/be supported/anyone to ever fix your crash reports.
  - Sirened 5y ago
    I suspect this is 10% of the reason why System Integrity Protection exists. Yes, it's great to stop malware, but it's even better to save your frontline support from having to deal with people who decided that it'd be a good idea to delete the dyld shared cache because it's 15GB and ""doesn't look useful"" https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250117852 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250117852
    - marcan_42 5y ago
      For those not aware, that file is the equivalent of all of /usr/lib on Linux. It is, quite literally, most of the core OS above the kernel.
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      That looks like an excellent opportunity to name that better.
  - krono 5y ago
    Generally agree, but I'll be damned if its ever not one of Photoanalysisd (unused, disabled, empty, but yet scanning), AirplayXPCHelper (often stuck at high CPU, my TV which it shouldn't be able to see, and my neighbour's, both sound output options, yup - weirded out by this tbh), or Spotlight (system deletes system file, Spotlight keeps attempting to read anyway and crash). These programs came bundled, I don't use them and disabled what I could from any GUIs. It is always them causing problems, hardly ever the ones I want and use.
    - bartvk 5y ago
      I think photoanalysisd can be turned off. In Photos, go to preferences and turn off memories.
      - krono 5y ago
        Not so unfortunately. The com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration also remains up (icloud sync is disbled, so not sure what cloud it's hoping to configure). Similarly, "ScreenTimeAgent" is there even with the feature disabled. AppleMusic and AppleTV daemons scan for caches throughout the day - never opened either. There's also "gamecontrollerd", "studentd", some iMessage and FaceTime related stuff, etc. etc. And on a system where you've disabled all analytics/tracking, turned off Siri in all places [1], disabled dictation and all other voice input related options, you even keep your microphone muted when it's not in use, even then, "corespeechd" will send out several MBs of data to Apple on every single boot. Most of this is nothing more than very unexpected and strange behaviour. The exceptions being those 3 apps that keep tripping over themselves, those actually destroying my battery and fans. A little less unintentional obscurity, maybe some official descriptions for these processes, just some communication, that would go a long way. [1] Siri settings are scattered throughout, a lists exists though: open Preferences > click button "Siri Suggestions & Privacy" > click button "About Siri & Privacy" button > click bu... eh wait click heading "Siri Suggestions" - yes that black print > then, finally, all the places are listed right under where it says "You have choice and control".
        klohto 5y ago
  - numpad0 5y ago
    Been there done that now knows better than to do the way you described, but still an uncomfortable thing to me to run modern OS on a modern system.
LeoPanthera 5y ago
The problem with disabling non-obvious processes is that, well, they are non-obvious. I suppose if it's your own machine, and you know what you're doing, that's OK, but as soon as something breaks you will have no idea whether it's because you turned something critical off, or whether it's actually a bug. Please don't do this to other people's Macs.
- metadat 5y ago
  > Please don't do this to other people's Macs. Thanks for the advice and all, but where is this coming from? It seems kind of out of left field, as parent comment did not communicate or convey in any way that they would ever mess with someone else’s machine like that. Is it not obvious that such an act would be just plain rude (and stupid)?
  - LexGray 5y ago
    I think it is more teenaged mentality trying to be helpful disabling system protection, and otherwise tweaking the heck just because they believe it is the best experience. It is not an issue here so not too helpful as a post, but plenty of folk out there telling their grandparents to delete the temp folder every week to optimize the computer and other nonsense they heard is helpful in some forum.
MaxikCZ 5y ago
When I installed new windows, I go trough all the settings I can find and disable everything. I used to also look up scripts to disable parts of windows (delete cortana) I didnt care about, as well as bloatware that notebooks come with. Rarely I havent run into some issues a year down the line which I knew is caused by "something being disabled", but couldnt google what might be causing it and thus never resolved the issue. Now I just let it rot as I got it, at least everything works.. Point is, disabling junk helps until it doesnt, and its much harder to enable one piece of junk after I forget what all I did in the first place. It would be nice if disabling windows search wouldnt make first attempt to open start menu not work after each restart, and enabling search didnt fix it. But everything is so interwoven that disabling "stuff I dont need" is shooting myself in the foot with a really long gun..

cryptoegorophy 5y ago

I literarily just use safari and excel. Is there a guide on how to disable the rest of the junk such as classroom tools?

astrange 5y ago
Please don't turn off random stuff and expect your computer to still work/be supported/anyone to ever fix your crash reports.
- Sirened 5y ago
  I suspect this is 10% of the reason why System Integrity Protection exists. Yes, it's great to stop malware, but it's even better to save your frontline support from having to deal with people who decided that it'd be a good idea to delete the dyld shared cache because it's 15GB and ""doesn't look useful"" https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250117852 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250117852
  - marcan_42 5y ago
    For those not aware, that file is the equivalent of all of /usr/lib on Linux. It is, quite literally, most of the core OS above the kernel.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    That looks like an excellent opportunity to name that better.
- krono 5y ago
  Generally agree, but I'll be damned if its ever not one of Photoanalysisd (unused, disabled, empty, but yet scanning), AirplayXPCHelper (often stuck at high CPU, my TV which it shouldn't be able to see, and my neighbour's, both sound output options, yup - weirded out by this tbh), or Spotlight (system deletes system file, Spotlight keeps attempting to read anyway and crash). These programs came bundled, I don't use them and disabled what I could from any GUIs. It is always them causing problems, hardly ever the ones I want and use.
  - bartvk 5y ago
    I think photoanalysisd can be turned off. In Photos, go to preferences and turn off memories.
    - krono 5y ago
      Not so unfortunately. The com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration also remains up (icloud sync is disbled, so not sure what cloud it's hoping to configure). Similarly, "ScreenTimeAgent" is there even with the feature disabled. AppleMusic and AppleTV daemons scan for caches throughout the day - never opened either. There's also "gamecontrollerd", "studentd", some iMessage and FaceTime related stuff, etc. etc. And on a system where you've disabled all analytics/tracking, turned off Siri in all places [1], disabled dictation and all other voice input related options, you even keep your microphone muted when it's not in use, even then, "corespeechd" will send out several MBs of data to Apple on every single boot. Most of this is nothing more than very unexpected and strange behaviour. The exceptions being those 3 apps that keep tripping over themselves, those actually destroying my battery and fans. A little less unintentional obscurity, maybe some official descriptions for these processes, just some communication, that would go a long way. [1] Siri settings are scattered throughout, a lists exists though: open Preferences > click button "Siri Suggestions & Privacy" > click button "About Siri & Privacy" button > click bu... eh wait click heading "Siri Suggestions" - yes that black print > then, finally, all the places are listed right under where it says "You have choice and control".
      - klohto 5y ago
- numpad0 5y ago
  Been there done that now knows better than to do the way you described, but still an uncomfortable thing to me to run modern OS on a modern system.

LeoPanthera 5y ago

The problem with disabling non-obvious processes is that, well, they are non-obvious. I suppose if it's your own machine, and you know what you're doing, that's OK, but as soon as something breaks you will have no idea whether it's because you turned something critical off, or whether it's actually a bug. Please don't do this to other people's Macs.

metadat 5y ago
> Please don't do this to other people's Macs. Thanks for the advice and all, but where is this coming from? It seems kind of out of left field, as parent comment did not communicate or convey in any way that they would ever mess with someone else’s machine like that. Is it not obvious that such an act would be just plain rude (and stupid)?
- LexGray 5y ago
  I think it is more teenaged mentality trying to be helpful disabling system protection, and otherwise tweaking the heck just because they believe it is the best experience. It is not an issue here so not too helpful as a post, but plenty of folk out there telling their grandparents to delete the temp folder every week to optimize the computer and other nonsense they heard is helpful in some forum.

MaxikCZ 5y ago

When I installed new windows, I go trough all the settings I can find and disable everything. I used to also look up scripts to disable parts of windows (delete cortana) I didnt care about, as well as bloatware that notebooks come with. Rarely I havent run into some issues a year down the line which I knew is caused by "something being disabled", but couldnt google what might be causing it and thus never resolved the issue. Now I just let it rot as I got it, at least everything works.. Point is, disabling junk helps until it doesnt, and its much harder to enable one piece of junk after I forget what all I did in the first place. It would be nice if disabling windows search wouldnt make first attempt to open start menu not work after each restart, and enabling search didnt fix it. But everything is so interwoven that disabling "stuff I dont need" is shooting myself in the foot with a really long gun..