10 ms·

My Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Mac OS X (2011 Edition)

234 points by rograndom 15y ago

JonnieCache 15y ago
Springy. http://www.springyarchiver.com/ http://www.springyarchiver.com/ An archiver for OS X that actually works the way you expect, by opening a window to let you look inside and selectively extract from archives, rather than just spurting files all over the place unbidden like the built in one and all the other replacement ones seem to do. For some reason it took me ages to find this when I switched to mac. Drove me mad.
- falling 15y ago
  The built one doesn't spurt anything: if the archive contains a directory or a single file it extracts that in place, if it contains a bunch of files it will create a directory with the archive name and put the files in there. This is what I want 99% of the time.
  - JonnieCache 15y ago
    Yes, but what if I want one file deeply nested inside a massive archive, like a source tree or something? In the scenario you describe, I generally use the dtrx script. http://brettcsmith.org/2007/dtrx/ http://brettcsmith.org/2007/dtrx/
    - falling 15y ago
      As I said: 99%. I like default tools to be optimized for the common case, corner cases are just corner cases – how often are you extracting a single file from a massive source tree?
      - xoreax 15y ago
        While I agree that for the average user the default behavior is appropriate, there is still room for improvement. I use Entropy ( http://www.EntropyApp.com http://www.EntropyApp.com ) , which is similar to Springy but also includes "in-archive quick look" and mode shortcuts. So, my workflow is now similar to this: 1. By default, automatically extract like the built-in archiver 2. For "transient archives" where I just want to preview the contents (pictures/documents/crash-logs), open with the CMD key pressed to view the contents. Then press space to preview the files. I find myself in situation #2 often enough to warrant something like this. It's a lot more convenient than "Extract all -> navigate -> preview -> move to trash".
thurn 15y ago
I'm surprised to not see Quicksilver on a list like this. It's definitely the tool that keeps me coming back to OSX. Most of the "replacements" for it on other platforms (and on OSX) implement very few of its power-user features.
- Jasber 15y ago
  It's been mentioned, but check out Alfred. I'm a big fan.
- smspence 15y ago
  I don't really understand the appeal of Quicksilver. If I want to quickly launch some random program, I just press Command + Space (activates spotlight), type in the first two or three letters of the program name, and press enter. You can also do calculations and look up words in the dictionary. Isn't this what most people use Quicksilver and Alfred for?
  - sirn 15y ago
    Most that still use Quicksilver to today are likely not "most people". The "object-action-object" command of QS is not something Spotlight is capable of (e.g. drag files on desktop to trash, open these images in Photoshop, all without involving a mouse click). I've quit QS for LaunchBar few years ago (when the author announced the development for QS has ceased) then Spotlight then Alfred. I think Alfred did better than Spotlight as a launcher because of slightly better results (e.g. typing "pho" in my machine list Photo Booth and iPhoto but not the one I want the most: Photoshop) and few little touches here and there where Spotlight didn't get it right (e.g. "press enter to copy" for calculations). I use file actions a lot (move these files, trash this, etc.), so Spotlight is pretty much out of question.
ary 15y ago
Given my personal experience I have to warn people away from HTTP Client. It is bug-ridden and broken. Many of the UI elements break in weird ways during normal use. I had to quit and re-run the application many times just to bring it back to a usable state (only to have it break again immediately). Spend your money on Rested instead. I don't quite understand the OP's assertion that "RESTed is a little bit more complex than HTTP Client." Considering Rested actually works I'd consider it a lot more simple than HTTP Client. Edit: To be clear, I am in no way connected with the author of Rested. I'm just a very satisfied customer.
- JonnieCache 15y ago
  Or just use curl. httpclient is just a wrapper for curl.
- drewda 15y ago
  I've been having good luck with http://code.google.com/p/cocoa-rest-client/ http://code.google.com/p/cocoa-rest-client/
- notJim 15y ago
  I use the RESTClient Firefox extension for this kind of thing. It also does oauth, which is nice.
makmanalp 15y ago
If Terminal.app feels like plastic scissors, you can try iterm2. It beats the crap out of Terminal in terms of configurability. https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2 https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2 http://iterm2.com/ http://iterm2.com/
- super_mario 15y ago
  And it's broken. Screen updates are way slower, and stream redirection plain doesn't work. Terminal app is pretty good.
  - blaenk 15y ago
    I thought I was the only one that witnessed slower screen updates. I don't know if it's the same thing, but for example, holding backspace to delete a few characters seems to lag (on an SSD with 2600k @ 4.5ghz and 8GB DDR3). I know I can just do C-u, but the lag is irritating nonetheless. Not to mention I actually like Terminal.app so I don't have a problem continuing to use it.
    - ghotli 15y ago
      The original versions of iTerm gave me this problem, but since it was forked and called iTerm 2 I have never, ever had this problem. Are you using the newest version?
  - makmanalp 15y ago
    This is odd, for me there is no lag on Lion when I hold down the backspace key. And what do you mean by stream redirection? That usually means this: > echo "derp" > foo.txt That has nothing to do with iterm2 and everything to do with bash or whatever shell you are using, I think. Might you be confusing iterm2 with iterm? Iterm2 is a completely separate piece of software than iterm, it's not the second version of the same one.
    - super_mario 15y ago
      I mean things like 2>&1 or 2>/dev/null (redirecting error stream to stdout etc). This did not work for me last time I tried it. This coupled with significant lag when scrolling/listing huge dir, typing made me quickly abandon it. Terminal app does everything I really need and it's fast and reliable.
Pewpewarrows 15y ago
A decent starter list, but definitely not complete (for me at least). I'd add the following * TotalFinder (makes the OS X finder not terrible anymore, tabs, etc) * HandsOff/LittleSnitch (oh, you're just using the built-in firewall? that's cute.) * Transmit (everything you could ever want in an FTP app) * CommandQ (W and Q are way too close together) * Mou (free alternative to Byword) * Evernote (note-taking that syncs absolutely everywhere) * Alfred (modern day Quicksilver) * Growl (notify me of all the things!) * AppCleaner (good for finding the random left-behind files) * ClipMenu (clipboard history and saved text snippets all in one) * f.lux (less eyestrain for marathon coding sessions) * GasMask (easy hosts file changing) * GrabBox (automatically saves screenshots to my DropBox public folder and copies the URL to my clipboard? YES PLEASE. replaces the need for CloudApp, etc.) * Sublime Text 2 (cross-platform and modern TextMate/BBEdit/Vim all rolled into one amazing editor) * SourceTree (good and free Git/hg front-end) * Witch (finally a better Cmd-Tab) * Moom (window tiling and profiles galore) * Hyperdock (dock previews and drag-to-edge window resizing) * Prey (stolen goods tracking) * Textual (IRC) * Adium (chats) In terms of my actual command-line environment: * iTerm2 * Homebrew * (way too many individual commands to list here) Also Chrome/FF extensions can get you some really great paid native app replacements, like RestConsole (no more need for Http Clients).
- smspence 15y ago
  I love TotalFinder, and also can't live without flux. I don't really understand the excitement over Alfred/Quicksilver though... what does it do that spotlight can't? Just activate spotlight by pressing Command+Space, and type in whatever you want to do (you can launch a program, do a calculation, look up a word, whatever).
  - Pewpewarrows 15y ago
    It's really just Spotlight on crack. Once you've done your initial search and the file/app/whatever is highlighted, you can then proceed to instantly perform actions or scripts on it. It's basically just a really nice macro feature baked into Spotlight with a new UI.
miles_matthias 15y ago
In my opinion Mac OS X is already pretty great and I don't need to add very many things. Focusing on all of the different apps and tools we use seems like a dangerous rabbit hole. I recently had to re-install Lion on my MacBook Air - here's what I installed after: http://milesmatthias.tumblr.com/post/14366026639/i-re-installed-mac-os-x-lion-a-few-days-ago-and-i http://milesmatthias.tumblr.com/post/14366026639/i-re-instal...
jmjerlecki 15y ago
One of my faves on the list: http://panic.com/~wade/picker/ http://panic.com/~wade/picker/ Nice time saver
- notJim 15y ago
  Man, I don't get a "developer color picker" that doesn't have a giant box with the hex color init. Fortunately, there's hex picker: http://wafflesoftware.net/hexpicker/ http://wafflesoftware.net/hexpicker/. Also, here's a script I use that turns color picker into an app: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060408050920158 http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=2006040805092015.... (But only sort of, it's still one of those weird windows OS X has that you can't close the normal way.)
gatlin 15y ago
My hardware is a brand new 13" MBA with an old monitor, comfort curve keyboard, bose notebook speakers, and the magic trackpad. For software, homebrew and perlbrew are essential. vim and tmux are how I do everything related to my job. Adium is for OTR and annoying scripts I've written[1]. Chrome for the being Chrome. I use dropbox like an addict, too. I tend to script everything I need with Perl, including mechanized tests and creating quick REST APIs[2]. Being able to use v5.14 in place of whatever comes natively is a nice touch. Homebrew brings in git, tmux, haskell, racket, go, and redis. Combinations of these tools let me do pretty much what these other lists allow but I probably haven't had the most elegant experience, either. [1]: http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=4187 http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=4187 [2]: https://metacpan.org/module/Test::WWW::Mechanize https://metacpan.org/module/Test::WWW::Mechanize
ernestipark 15y ago
I would highly endorse Slate (https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate), a free, open source, awesomely configurable window manager for OS X. Also Vimium (http://vimium.github.com/ http://vimium.github.com/) for browsing the web is incredible. It's made browsing much faster and more enjoyable. Both were developed by former co-workers of mine.
dataphyte 15y ago
* calibre - ebook management and conversion
jz 15y ago
I am genuinely surprised at how much others spend on software. I started totaling up his list (excluding monthly services like dropbox) and stopped when I reached $500, which was right around Cornerstone.
- cjensen 15y ago
  You've already sunk money into a Computer. If you pay a little more per year on software, how much better is your computer? It's a tradeoff which depends upon how much money you have, and how much utility you will derive. For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac. If I were using svn on the Mac frequently, Cornerstone (which is quite expensive by my standards) would be a necessity. Twenty years ago, computers cost $5000 and $500 worth of software was no big deal. Well today, that $500 dollars will buy you just a much a productivity boost, so why is it no longer worth it? Don't compare the $500 to the price of your computer; compare it to your already-spent salary plus overhead. In my view, most of us who love free software have a knee-jerk reaction to paying money for software. Try spending a little more per year on software and observe whether or not it improves you life. It did for me.
  - tincholio 15y ago
    >For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac. What's wrong with doing "brew install svn" ?
    - CJefferson 15y ago
      What's wrong with the copy of svn already distributed with Mac OS X? :)
      - cjensen 15y ago
        Productivity is much better with a decent GUI like TortoiseSVN. Want to see the diffs for multiple files you have changed? Just double click each. No mucking about with command line windows and cutting and pasting filenames or what have you. On Windows there is TortoiseSVN which makes svn more efficient. On *nix, I used the XEmacs module. Of course I know how to use the command line also and do use it for one-file commits on occasion. If you are using SVN routinely and do not use a GUI, you are wasting your time.
maximilian 15y ago
> There is absolutely no reason for me to have 16GB of RAM other than to brag about the fact that I have such a ridiculous amount of memory. 16GB in a desktop really isn't that ridiculous especially as a developer that might run VMs. In a non-mac with 4 ram slots, its <$100, which is very attainable. He is running an iMac with only 2 slots, making the RAM more like $250, but for a developer, this still isn't that much.
- sirn 15y ago
  All iMacs since late-2009 has four slots[1]. [1]: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423#1 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423#1
- sifi 15y ago
  I agree, I always end up hitting my 4GB limit with a VM open and Chrome with 12 tabs. Upgrading will be the next thing that I ask from the boss.
Derbasti 15y ago
Emacs. 'Nuff said. Just kidding. Actually MacVim, too. The current gen i7 MacBook Pro is an insanely great machine. - I pretty much can not work without VMWare Fusion. - Tower for git, Cornerstone for svn - Sparrow, for I want a second mail client beside Mail.app that does not suck - TextExpander is pretty useful - Pixelmator. It's enough for what I need to do. - Reeder, my favourite RSS client - The Unarchiver, in case anyone did not know that one - Spotify - Outbank, for European bank accounts - Transmit. Awesome FTP client.
to3m 15y ago
If we're making our own lists, here's some that others haven't mentioned: * Jumpcut - http://jumpcut.sourceforge.net/ http://jumpcut.sourceforge.net/ - simple and unintrusive clipboard history * dterm - http://decimus.net/DTerm http://decimus.net/DTerm - popup terminal * bwana - http://www.bruji.com/bwana/ http://www.bruji.com/bwana/ - man pages in your browser * Grand Perspective - http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ - disk usage program
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  I watched the dterm video, and it looks interesting, but the lack of an apparent scrollback (as soon as I type a different command, the previous output is gone) would bug me. (Plus, does it support history, including search, etc?) I'm using TotalTerminal - it's not context aware, but it's easier for me to launch it with Ctrl-` than to open a new virgin terminal whenever I need to do something really quick.
  - danneu 15y ago
    I can't imagine life without Guake. Nice to see that OSX has its own version. In fact, I now do all of my development in Guake with tmux and Vim.
  - evgen 15y ago
    The only real win for dterm is the context-aware factor, but I find it to be a big-enough win that I keep it around. If you just need a quick virgin window and are using iterm2 (as you should be) then you can go into Prefs > Keys and set the global hot key toggle and then select the 'hotkey toggles a dedicated window with profile' to get a dterm-like overlay window that is a real terminal session.
- dorian-graph 15y ago
  DTerm is fantastic. It's not something I use often but the times when I do need/want it are what makes it fantastic. A simple example is that I wanted to make a txt file on my desktop so I hit the shortcut, typed touch x.txt and bam, there it was.
- 15y ago
pygorex 15y ago
* Teamviewer. Cross platform remoting: http://teamviewer.com/ http://teamviewer.com/ I use it for support sessions and remote pair programming. * Parallels. VM. Use it primarily for testing web apps in older versions of IE. * Netbeans. Great search tools (search in files, search for classes, functions).
PStamatiou 15y ago
I posted a "Stuff i use" comment some time ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1881098 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1881098
jc4p 15y ago
I'd love to get a compare/contrast between Cornerstone which the article mentions and Versions: http://versionsapp.com/ http://versionsapp.com/ I sadly still have to use SVN for some things and have been using Versions for quite some time now. What does Cornerstone do that Versions can't do?
- banjomonster 15y ago
  I'd be interested in that too - Versions is great, though not perfect. Looks like one thing Cornerstone has is a built-in diff tool: http://www.zennaware.com/cornerstone/index.php http://www.zennaware.com/cornerstone/index.php
  - jc4p 15y ago
    That's definitely a plus. I currently use DiffMerge which I really like because I can use it with absolutely anything, no matter what my source control is.
- rabidsnail 15y ago
  Do you know about git-svn? http://trac.parrot.org/parrot/wiki/git-svn-tutorial http://trac.parrot.org/parrot/wiki/git-svn-tutorial
larrik 15y ago
I was really hoping to see a fix for OS X's mouse acceleration. It's annoying when using the OS, and completely broken when I fire up StarCraft or something else that requires fast and precise mouse movements. (I'm using a Microsoft mouse on a Mac Mini)
- dennyabraham 15y ago
  I believe, at least for certain newer models, Microsoft's driver will correct the acceleration curve. I personally use a Logitech and it seems to do the same.
- dmnd 15y ago
  This works very well to remove OS X's mouse acceleration: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=194668 http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=194...
  - dorian-graph 15y ago
    I haven't been able to user the Razer drivers for my DeathAdder because of bizarre behaviour and you may have just shown me the solution, thank you!
krobertson 15y ago
Don't know if the author of the post knows it is on HN, and his blog doesn't do comments... He talks about might wanting a different diff tool than Changes. Might recommend Kaleidoscope (http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com/ http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com/). I like it, however the one thing that I do hate about it is the lack of a directory compare feature. It can only compare two files together.
- cschmidt 15y ago
  I like Araxis Merge, especially the edit in place feature. http://www.araxis.com/merge_mac/index.html http://www.araxis.com/merge_mac/index.html It does directory comparison. Kaleidoscope seemed pretty, but not as powerful.
  - dabeeeenster 15y ago
    £79 for a file merge tool!?!?! I don't really like FileMerge, but that's crazy. I still can't find a decent free(ish) tool that is better than FileMerge...Anyone got any other suggestions?
    - cschmidt 15y ago
      Yes, it costs money. I've used the Mac version for several years now, and the windows version for maybe 10 years before that. I think I've had my money's worth. Given that it works for me better than anything else, the cost is nothing. I don't mind paying for software that makes my life better. It has a free 30 day trial, so give it a try and see if it is worth the money.
- ldar15 15y ago
  ECMerge Its the only one that does a proper 3-way merge: it has four views. Last time I used Araxis it showed three panes: theirs, base, ours, and you merged back into the center. Hello!!! "base" isn't much use halfway into a complicated merge if I can't tell which lines are "base" and what is "merged", nor can I refer to what was there before. So frustrating. Does directories too. http://www.elliecomputing.com/products/merge_overview.asp http://www.elliecomputing.com/products/merge_overview.asp
kennywinker 15y ago
I haven't used Appfigures, because I was turned off by my sales figures being stored online, but [AppViz 2](http://www.ideaswarm.com/AppViz2.html http://www.ideaswarm.com/AppViz2.html) is a really great app and I can't recommend it enough. Beautiful graphs, intuitive app, good customer support. etc. etc. AAA+++ would use for iTunes Connect stats again.
- xmr 15y ago
  I completely agree, AppViz 2 is an excellent app for checking and storing sales reports, iAd revenue, customer reviews & app ranks.
peteforde 15y ago
RCDefaultApp: can't you just set the default app in the info popup for any filetype? PDFpenPro: Preview can save your signature and add it to a PDF for you
- r00fus 15y ago
  The Preview signature thing is rather recent, IIRC.
super_mario 15y ago
Childish list for people who haven't learned to use the command line. Boot up Mac, install XCode to get gcc/clang etc, and install MacVim, but you don't have to, vim is there out of the box. Install perhaps additional tools like lynx, pgrep, pfind, ncat, ngrep, nmap, wget, seq (some are included in Lion but I don't use Lion) etc and you got standard UNIX toolchain to build everything, from "hello world" to world's most complex multi-million line applications.
- danneu 15y ago
  I'm probably going to buy a MBA soon after working with Debian & Openbox on a dated netbook for too long. I spend most of my time in side-by-side Vim/shell/ssh sessions inside tmux within the Guake terminal. If MacVim is a standalone app, why do people use it? Isn't one of the nicest things about Vim that it lives in the terminal and can be launched from any root in the terminal?
  - super_mario 15y ago
    The only good reason to use MacVim is support for millions of colors so color schemes look nicer. It also supports full screen mode (now in Lion Terminal does too, but before this used to be a missing feature), also it's easier to launch MacVim as external editing tool for other apps like Firefox with Pentadactyl extension (this allows you to edit any text box/area with vim). Other than that, you really don't need MacVim, unless you are very anal about colors :D.
    - danneu 15y ago
      Cool. I'm a huge Pentadactyl fan, and that point (launchability) makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
    - stock_toaster 15y ago
      MacVim also uses a native open dialog, as well as Finder right click 'new macvim buffer here', both of which are kind of nice.
    - 15y ago
davepeck 15y ago
Hey neat, my app https://GetCloak.com/ https://GetCloak.com/ made it into the list. And we're still beta -- though v1.0 is coming quite soon. Fun!
- mtrichardson 15y ago
  I'm using it right now, as is a friend I recommended it to a few minutes ago, thanks to this post.
  - davepeck 15y ago
    Sweet, thanks. I did a "hey, HN, check out my beta" post a few months back. When we hit 1.0, I'll probably do another. I look forward to your feedback.
- arb99 15y ago
  looks good and like something i've been looking for (easy to set up vpn when using public wifi), but with only limited contact details on your site hard to build trustworthiness tbh.
  - davepeck 15y ago
    Hi arb99, If you click "learn more" you get a lot of information about both the company and the team, including our address, phone number, photos and bios of the three of us, and links to our Twitter accounts. What contact information were you looking for? We see ourselves as (in part) being in the business of earning trust. That's obviously a difficult job, so whatever suggestions you can offer we'd definitely appreciate. Cheers, Dave
    - arb99 15y ago
      Oh ok. I only saw a mailto: link w/ an email address :)
rabenfrass 15y ago
SteerMouse + Logitech mouse of your choice.
kittxkat 15y ago
Very nice list, thanks for sharing! OT: is LaunchBar/Alfred really that better than Quicksilver? Has been some time since I last touched a Mac, but I was totally amazed by the magic that was Quicksilver.
woebtz 15y ago
As hard as I try, I can't seem to get used to the prettier Finder replacements. Some additions: * MuCommander (Norton Commander-style file manager) * ShiftIt (window management/"Aero Snap"/Moom alternative) * Isolator (widow focus indicator) * SecondBar (menu bar for your second monitor) * KeyRemap4Macbook/PCKeyboard Hack (remap keys, capslock=command, etc.) * BetterTouchTool (trackpad gestures, middle click!)
codenerdz 15y ago
First things I install on a new mac are: * TotalTerminal -- a quake-like CMD-~ terminal extension * RightZoom -- CMD-Shift-Q for maximizing the window to current screen
r00fus 15y ago
One tool that was indispensable for MySQL viewing editing: Sequel Pro [1]. I found it much more intuitive than Querious and it's free. [1] http://www.sequelpro.com/ http://www.sequelpro.com/
philwelch 15y ago
DTerm is great for when you want a quick shell prompt but don't want to have to switch to Terminal.
8ig8 15y ago
I appreciate this list, but I do wish the author would have linked to the software websites instead of to the app store. On the iPad, these app store links are useless. (As a side note, why can't these links be a little more intelligent? If they know I'm using an iPad, why not redirect to a better fallback?)
ldar15 15y ago
* SlickEdit is finally native on OSX * ECMerge Pro: proper 3-way merge with separate theirs, base, yours and result views. * Mind Manager Pro: bit pricey but served me well.
the_cat_kittles 15y ago
If you want something to help you learn and practice music, there is nothing quite like Transcribe!. You can adjust speed without changing pitch, change pitch, multi band eq, highlight and repeat regions, analyze a selection for the notes occurring in it, etc... http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html
pnathan 15y ago
* emacs * Terminal.app * SBCL * DiffMerge * GitHub.app * Graphviz * Chrome, Adium I have not spent 1 cent on software for my Mac so far. The only software that tempts me is OmniGraffle, because it really is that good. I live on the command line and quite often, in open source software.
risratorn 15y ago
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Charles http://www.charlesproxy.com/ http://www.charlesproxy.com/
uggedal 15y ago
My 11" Macbook Air setup is a bit unconventional: * Debian Wheezy (I haven't been able to create a customized and focused OS X setup) * Puppet (For managing the installation and configuration of all the following applications) * ssh * zsh (beats bash in my book) * ufw (best alternative I've found on Linux to BSDs pf) * tmux (obsoleted screen for me) * vim * ack (intelligent recursive file search) * git * rsync * curl * keychain (stores password decrypted ssh keys in memory) * awesome (tiling window manager configured in Lua) * urxvt (running in client-server mode to save resources) * spotify * mplayer (for playing videos and audio not streamed from spotify) * unclutter (hides the mouse after X seconds of inactivity (I rarely use the mouse)) * firefox (with pentadactyl for vim-like browsing) * chromium (for testing on webkit) * mupdf (lightweight pdf viewer) * sxiv (lightweight image viewer) * rdesktop (if I need to connect to a Windows machine at work) * rtorrent Most puppet modules and application configurations can be found here: http://github.com/uggedal http://github.com/uggedal
- chalst 15y ago
  What is this keychain? ssh-agent stores the decrypted keys in memory, too.
  - robotblake 15y ago
    Keychain is a frontend (of sorts) for ssh-agent and ssh-add that helps you keep a single instance of ssh-agent running across login sessions. Pretty rad: http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Keychain http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Keychain
- davidjairala 15y ago
  What kind of battery time do you get? I've been thinking of installing Debian on my MBA 11" for a while, the only thing holding me back has been battery time.
  - uggedal 15y ago
    My 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo 11" lasts about 4.5 hours with Debian.
chalst 15y ago
I tried Omni Focus (I was in the beta programme, and I had been using than Schoonover's Kinkless GTD before, from which Omni Focus derived) and didn't like it. After some time I discovered Org mode and this works for me. I think the Org mode journal style just fits the way most people plan much better than the GTD ramified list approach. You have a file per project or maintenance domain and you jot down your priorities, interleaving tasks where they are relevant tasks. Then Org mode's tools put together the lists you need when you are getting through your tasks. There's no need to internalise a complex external model, a step that clearly many people fail at when they try to apply GTD. More generally, I find that when I started using OSX, I used a lot of the Apple-esque programs but over the years I've mostly migrated back to software that runs on Linux. OSX has increasingly become a wacky UNIX with a nice GUI to me. The superbly integrated Parallels is the only non-bundled software on OSX that I would really hate to live without.
gbrindisi 15y ago
What I really miss is a good tiling windows manager. I tried many apps out there, OptimanlLayout been the latest, and I still can't find a nice productive experience (a la xmonad, scrotwm or awesome). (I know I can use x11.app but It's freaking unusable)
coldflame23 15y ago
*Window Magnet http://magnet.crowdcafe.com/ http://magnet.crowdcafe.com/

234 points by rograndom 15y ago

Springy. http://www.springyarchiver.com/ http://www.springyarchiver.com/ An archiver for OS X that actually works the way you expect, by opening a window to let you look inside and selectively extract from archives, rather than just spurting files all over the place unbidden like the built in one and all the other replacement ones seem to do. For some reason it took me ages to find this when I switched to mac. Drove me mad.

falling 15y ago
The built one doesn't spurt anything: if the archive contains a directory or a single file it extracts that in place, if it contains a bunch of files it will create a directory with the archive name and put the files in there. This is what I want 99% of the time.
- JonnieCache 15y ago
  Yes, but what if I want one file deeply nested inside a massive archive, like a source tree or something? In the scenario you describe, I generally use the dtrx script. http://brettcsmith.org/2007/dtrx/ http://brettcsmith.org/2007/dtrx/
  - falling 15y ago
    As I said: 99%. I like default tools to be optimized for the common case, corner cases are just corner cases – how often are you extracting a single file from a massive source tree?
    - xoreax 15y ago
      While I agree that for the average user the default behavior is appropriate, there is still room for improvement. I use Entropy ( http://www.EntropyApp.com http://www.EntropyApp.com ) , which is similar to Springy but also includes "in-archive quick look" and mode shortcuts. So, my workflow is now similar to this: 1. By default, automatically extract like the built-in archiver 2. For "transient archives" where I just want to preview the contents (pictures/documents/crash-logs), open with the CMD key pressed to view the contents. Then press space to preview the files. I find myself in situation #2 often enough to warrant something like this. It's a lot more convenient than "Extract all -> navigate -> preview -> move to trash".

thurn 15y ago

I'm surprised to not see Quicksilver on a list like this. It's definitely the tool that keeps me coming back to OSX. Most of the "replacements" for it on other platforms (and on OSX) implement very few of its power-user features.

Jasber 15y ago
It's been mentioned, but check out Alfred. I'm a big fan.
smspence 15y ago
I don't really understand the appeal of Quicksilver. If I want to quickly launch some random program, I just press Command + Space (activates spotlight), type in the first two or three letters of the program name, and press enter. You can also do calculations and look up words in the dictionary. Isn't this what most people use Quicksilver and Alfred for?
- sirn 15y ago
  Most that still use Quicksilver to today are likely not "most people". The "object-action-object" command of QS is not something Spotlight is capable of (e.g. drag files on desktop to trash, open these images in Photoshop, all without involving a mouse click). I've quit QS for LaunchBar few years ago (when the author announced the development for QS has ceased) then Spotlight then Alfred. I think Alfred did better than Spotlight as a launcher because of slightly better results (e.g. typing "pho" in my machine list Photo Booth and iPhoto but not the one I want the most: Photoshop) and few little touches here and there where Spotlight didn't get it right (e.g. "press enter to copy" for calculations). I use file actions a lot (move these files, trash this, etc.), so Spotlight is pretty much out of question.

ary 15y ago

Given my personal experience I have to warn people away from HTTP Client. It is bug-ridden and broken. Many of the UI elements break in weird ways during normal use. I had to quit and re-run the application many times just to bring it back to a usable state (only to have it break again immediately). Spend your money on Rested instead. I don't quite understand the OP's assertion that "RESTed is a little bit more complex than HTTP Client." Considering Rested actually works I'd consider it a lot more simple than HTTP Client. Edit: To be clear, I am in no way connected with the author of Rested. I'm just a very satisfied customer.

JonnieCache 15y ago
Or just use curl. httpclient is just a wrapper for curl.
drewda 15y ago
I've been having good luck with http://code.google.com/p/cocoa-rest-client/ http://code.google.com/p/cocoa-rest-client/
notJim 15y ago
I use the RESTClient Firefox extension for this kind of thing. It also does oauth, which is nice.

makmanalp 15y ago

If Terminal.app feels like plastic scissors, you can try iterm2. It beats the crap out of Terminal in terms of configurability. https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2 https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2 http://iterm2.com/ http://iterm2.com/

super_mario 15y ago
And it's broken. Screen updates are way slower, and stream redirection plain doesn't work. Terminal app is pretty good.
- blaenk 15y ago
  I thought I was the only one that witnessed slower screen updates. I don't know if it's the same thing, but for example, holding backspace to delete a few characters seems to lag (on an SSD with 2600k @ 4.5ghz and 8GB DDR3). I know I can just do C-u, but the lag is irritating nonetheless. Not to mention I actually like Terminal.app so I don't have a problem continuing to use it.
  - ghotli 15y ago
    The original versions of iTerm gave me this problem, but since it was forked and called iTerm 2 I have never, ever had this problem. Are you using the newest version?
- makmanalp 15y ago
  This is odd, for me there is no lag on Lion when I hold down the backspace key. And what do you mean by stream redirection? That usually means this: > echo "derp" > foo.txt That has nothing to do with iterm2 and everything to do with bash or whatever shell you are using, I think. Might you be confusing iterm2 with iterm? Iterm2 is a completely separate piece of software than iterm, it's not the second version of the same one.
  - super_mario 15y ago
    I mean things like 2>&1 or 2>/dev/null (redirecting error stream to stdout etc). This did not work for me last time I tried it. This coupled with significant lag when scrolling/listing huge dir, typing made me quickly abandon it. Terminal app does everything I really need and it's fast and reliable.

Pewpewarrows 15y ago

A decent starter list, but definitely not complete (for me at least). I'd add the following * TotalFinder (makes the OS X finder not terrible anymore, tabs, etc) * HandsOff/LittleSnitch (oh, you're just using the built-in firewall? that's cute.) * Transmit (everything you could ever want in an FTP app) * CommandQ (W and Q are way too close together) * Mou (free alternative to Byword) * Evernote (note-taking that syncs absolutely everywhere) * Alfred (modern day Quicksilver) * Growl (notify me of all the things!) * AppCleaner (good for finding the random left-behind files) * ClipMenu (clipboard history and saved text snippets all in one) * f.lux (less eyestrain for marathon coding sessions) * GasMask (easy hosts file changing) * GrabBox (automatically saves screenshots to my DropBox public folder and copies the URL to my clipboard? YES PLEASE. replaces the need for CloudApp, etc.) * Sublime Text 2 (cross-platform and modern TextMate/BBEdit/Vim all rolled into one amazing editor) * SourceTree (good and free Git/hg front-end) * Witch (finally a better Cmd-Tab) * Moom (window tiling and profiles galore) * Hyperdock (dock previews and drag-to-edge window resizing) * Prey (stolen goods tracking) * Textual (IRC) * Adium (chats) In terms of my actual command-line environment: * iTerm2 * Homebrew * (way too many individual commands to list here) Also Chrome/FF extensions can get you some really great paid native app replacements, like RestConsole (no more need for Http Clients).

smspence 15y ago
I love TotalFinder, and also can't live without flux. I don't really understand the excitement over Alfred/Quicksilver though... what does it do that spotlight can't? Just activate spotlight by pressing Command+Space, and type in whatever you want to do (you can launch a program, do a calculation, look up a word, whatever).
- Pewpewarrows 15y ago
  It's really just Spotlight on crack. Once you've done your initial search and the file/app/whatever is highlighted, you can then proceed to instantly perform actions or scripts on it. It's basically just a really nice macro feature baked into Spotlight with a new UI.

miles_matthias 15y ago

In my opinion Mac OS X is already pretty great and I don't need to add very many things. Focusing on all of the different apps and tools we use seems like a dangerous rabbit hole. I recently had to re-install Lion on my MacBook Air - here's what I installed after: http://milesmatthias.tumblr.com/post/14366026639/i-re-installed-mac-os-x-lion-a-few-days-ago-and-i http://milesmatthias.tumblr.com/post/14366026639/i-re-instal...

jmjerlecki 15y ago

One of my faves on the list: http://panic.com/~wade/picker/ http://panic.com/~wade/picker/ Nice time saver

notJim 15y ago
Man, I don't get a "developer color picker" that doesn't have a giant box with the hex color init. Fortunately, there's hex picker: http://wafflesoftware.net/hexpicker/ http://wafflesoftware.net/hexpicker/. Also, here's a script I use that turns color picker into an app: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060408050920158 http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=2006040805092015.... (But only sort of, it's still one of those weird windows OS X has that you can't close the normal way.)

gatlin 15y ago

My hardware is a brand new 13" MBA with an old monitor, comfort curve keyboard, bose notebook speakers, and the magic trackpad. For software, homebrew and perlbrew are essential. vim and tmux are how I do everything related to my job. Adium is for OTR and annoying scripts I've written[1]. Chrome for the being Chrome. I use dropbox like an addict, too. I tend to script everything I need with Perl, including mechanized tests and creating quick REST APIs[2]. Being able to use v5.14 in place of whatever comes natively is a nice touch. Homebrew brings in git, tmux, haskell, racket, go, and redis. Combinations of these tools let me do pretty much what these other lists allow but I probably haven't had the most elegant experience, either. [1]: http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=4187 http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=4187 [2]: https://metacpan.org/module/Test::WWW::Mechanize https://metacpan.org/module/Test::WWW::Mechanize

ernestipark 15y ago

I would highly endorse Slate (https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate), a free, open source, awesomely configurable window manager for OS X. Also Vimium (http://vimium.github.com/ http://vimium.github.com/) for browsing the web is incredible. It's made browsing much faster and more enjoyable. Both were developed by former co-workers of mine.

dataphyte 15y ago

* calibre - ebook management and conversion

jz 15y ago

I am genuinely surprised at how much others spend on software. I started totaling up his list (excluding monthly services like dropbox) and stopped when I reached $500, which was right around Cornerstone.

cjensen 15y ago
You've already sunk money into a Computer. If you pay a little more per year on software, how much better is your computer? It's a tradeoff which depends upon how much money you have, and how much utility you will derive. For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac. If I were using svn on the Mac frequently, Cornerstone (which is quite expensive by my standards) would be a necessity. Twenty years ago, computers cost $5000 and $500 worth of software was no big deal. Well today, that $500 dollars will buy you just a much a productivity boost, so why is it no longer worth it? Don't compare the $500 to the price of your computer; compare it to your already-spent salary plus overhead. In my view, most of us who love free software have a knee-jerk reaction to paying money for software. Try spending a little more per year on software and observe whether or not it improves you life. It did for me.
- tincholio 15y ago
  >For example, unlike Windows, there is no free and convenient svn utility on the Mac. What's wrong with doing "brew install svn" ?
  - CJefferson 15y ago
    What's wrong with the copy of svn already distributed with Mac OS X? :)
    - cjensen 15y ago
      Productivity is much better with a decent GUI like TortoiseSVN. Want to see the diffs for multiple files you have changed? Just double click each. No mucking about with command line windows and cutting and pasting filenames or what have you. On Windows there is TortoiseSVN which makes svn more efficient. On *nix, I used the XEmacs module. Of course I know how to use the command line also and do use it for one-file commits on occasion. If you are using SVN routinely and do not use a GUI, you are wasting your time.

maximilian 15y ago

> There is absolutely no reason for me to have 16GB of RAM other than to brag about the fact that I have such a ridiculous amount of memory. 16GB in a desktop really isn't that ridiculous especially as a developer that might run VMs. In a non-mac with 4 ram slots, its <$100, which is very attainable. He is running an iMac with only 2 slots, making the RAM more like $250, but for a developer, this still isn't that much.

sirn 15y ago
All iMacs since late-2009 has four slots[1]. [1]: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423#1 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423#1
sifi 15y ago
I agree, I always end up hitting my 4GB limit with a VM open and Chrome with 12 tabs. Upgrading will be the next thing that I ask from the boss.

Derbasti 15y ago

Emacs. 'Nuff said. Just kidding. Actually MacVim, too. The current gen i7 MacBook Pro is an insanely great machine. - I pretty much can not work without VMWare Fusion. - Tower for git, Cornerstone for svn - Sparrow, for I want a second mail client beside Mail.app that does not suck - TextExpander is pretty useful - Pixelmator. It's enough for what I need to do. - Reeder, my favourite RSS client - The Unarchiver, in case anyone did not know that one - Spotify - Outbank, for European bank accounts - Transmit. Awesome FTP client.

to3m 15y ago

If we're making our own lists, here's some that others haven't mentioned: * Jumpcut - http://jumpcut.sourceforge.net/ http://jumpcut.sourceforge.net/ - simple and unintrusive clipboard history * dterm - http://decimus.net/DTerm http://decimus.net/DTerm - popup terminal * bwana - http://www.bruji.com/bwana/ http://www.bruji.com/bwana/ - man pages in your browser * Grand Perspective - http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ - disk usage program

pavel_lishin 15y ago
I watched the dterm video, and it looks interesting, but the lack of an apparent scrollback (as soon as I type a different command, the previous output is gone) would bug me. (Plus, does it support history, including search, etc?) I'm using TotalTerminal - it's not context aware, but it's easier for me to launch it with Ctrl-` than to open a new virgin terminal whenever I need to do something really quick.
- danneu 15y ago
  I can't imagine life without Guake. Nice to see that OSX has its own version. In fact, I now do all of my development in Guake with tmux and Vim.
- evgen 15y ago
  The only real win for dterm is the context-aware factor, but I find it to be a big-enough win that I keep it around. If you just need a quick virgin window and are using iterm2 (as you should be) then you can go into Prefs > Keys and set the global hot key toggle and then select the 'hotkey toggles a dedicated window with profile' to get a dterm-like overlay window that is a real terminal session.
dorian-graph 15y ago
DTerm is fantastic. It's not something I use often but the times when I do need/want it are what makes it fantastic. A simple example is that I wanted to make a txt file on my desktop so I hit the shortcut, typed touch x.txt and bam, there it was.
15y ago

pygorex 15y ago

* Teamviewer. Cross platform remoting: http://teamviewer.com/ http://teamviewer.com/ I use it for support sessions and remote pair programming. * Parallels. VM. Use it primarily for testing web apps in older versions of IE. * Netbeans. Great search tools (search in files, search for classes, functions).

PStamatiou 15y ago

I posted a "Stuff i use" comment some time ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1881098 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1881098

jc4p 15y ago

I'd love to get a compare/contrast between Cornerstone which the article mentions and Versions: http://versionsapp.com/ http://versionsapp.com/ I sadly still have to use SVN for some things and have been using Versions for quite some time now. What does Cornerstone do that Versions can't do?

banjomonster 15y ago
I'd be interested in that too - Versions is great, though not perfect. Looks like one thing Cornerstone has is a built-in diff tool: http://www.zennaware.com/cornerstone/index.php http://www.zennaware.com/cornerstone/index.php
- jc4p 15y ago
  That's definitely a plus. I currently use DiffMerge which I really like because I can use it with absolutely anything, no matter what my source control is.
rabidsnail 15y ago
Do you know about git-svn? http://trac.parrot.org/parrot/wiki/git-svn-tutorial http://trac.parrot.org/parrot/wiki/git-svn-tutorial

larrik 15y ago

I was really hoping to see a fix for OS X's mouse acceleration. It's annoying when using the OS, and completely broken when I fire up StarCraft or something else that requires fast and precise mouse movements. (I'm using a Microsoft mouse on a Mac Mini)

dennyabraham 15y ago
I believe, at least for certain newer models, Microsoft's driver will correct the acceleration curve. I personally use a Logitech and it seems to do the same.
dmnd 15y ago
This works very well to remove OS X's mouse acceleration: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=194668 http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=194...
- dorian-graph 15y ago
  I haven't been able to user the Razer drivers for my DeathAdder because of bizarre behaviour and you may have just shown me the solution, thank you!

krobertson 15y ago

Don't know if the author of the post knows it is on HN, and his blog doesn't do comments... He talks about might wanting a different diff tool than Changes. Might recommend Kaleidoscope (http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com/ http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com/). I like it, however the one thing that I do hate about it is the lack of a directory compare feature. It can only compare two files together.

cschmidt 15y ago
I like Araxis Merge, especially the edit in place feature. http://www.araxis.com/merge_mac/index.html http://www.araxis.com/merge_mac/index.html It does directory comparison. Kaleidoscope seemed pretty, but not as powerful.
- dabeeeenster 15y ago
  £79 for a file merge tool!?!?! I don't really like FileMerge, but that's crazy. I still can't find a decent free(ish) tool that is better than FileMerge...Anyone got any other suggestions?
  - cschmidt 15y ago
    Yes, it costs money. I've used the Mac version for several years now, and the windows version for maybe 10 years before that. I think I've had my money's worth. Given that it works for me better than anything else, the cost is nothing. I don't mind paying for software that makes my life better. It has a free 30 day trial, so give it a try and see if it is worth the money.
ldar15 15y ago
ECMerge Its the only one that does a proper 3-way merge: it has four views. Last time I used Araxis it showed three panes: theirs, base, ours, and you merged back into the center. Hello!!! "base" isn't much use halfway into a complicated merge if I can't tell which lines are "base" and what is "merged", nor can I refer to what was there before. So frustrating. Does directories too. http://www.elliecomputing.com/products/merge_overview.asp http://www.elliecomputing.com/products/merge_overview.asp

kennywinker 15y ago

I haven't used Appfigures, because I was turned off by my sales figures being stored online, but [AppViz 2](http://www.ideaswarm.com/AppViz2.html http://www.ideaswarm.com/AppViz2.html) is a really great app and I can't recommend it enough. Beautiful graphs, intuitive app, good customer support. etc. etc. AAA+++ would use for iTunes Connect stats again.

xmr 15y ago
I completely agree, AppViz 2 is an excellent app for checking and storing sales reports, iAd revenue, customer reviews & app ranks.

peteforde 15y ago

RCDefaultApp: can't you just set the default app in the info popup for any filetype? PDFpenPro: Preview can save your signature and add it to a PDF for you

r00fus 15y ago
The Preview signature thing is rather recent, IIRC.

super_mario 15y ago

Childish list for people who haven't learned to use the command line. Boot up Mac, install XCode to get gcc/clang etc, and install MacVim, but you don't have to, vim is there out of the box. Install perhaps additional tools like lynx, pgrep, pfind, ncat, ngrep, nmap, wget, seq (some are included in Lion but I don't use Lion) etc and you got standard UNIX toolchain to build everything, from "hello world" to world's most complex multi-million line applications.

danneu 15y ago
I'm probably going to buy a MBA soon after working with Debian & Openbox on a dated netbook for too long. I spend most of my time in side-by-side Vim/shell/ssh sessions inside tmux within the Guake terminal. If MacVim is a standalone app, why do people use it? Isn't one of the nicest things about Vim that it lives in the terminal and can be launched from any root in the terminal?
- super_mario 15y ago
  The only good reason to use MacVim is support for millions of colors so color schemes look nicer. It also supports full screen mode (now in Lion Terminal does too, but before this used to be a missing feature), also it's easier to launch MacVim as external editing tool for other apps like Firefox with Pentadactyl extension (this allows you to edit any text box/area with vim). Other than that, you really don't need MacVim, unless you are very anal about colors :D.
  - danneu 15y ago
    Cool. I'm a huge Pentadactyl fan, and that point (launchability) makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
  - stock_toaster 15y ago
    MacVim also uses a native open dialog, as well as Finder right click 'new macvim buffer here', both of which are kind of nice.
  - 15y ago

davepeck 15y ago

Hey neat, my app https://GetCloak.com/ https://GetCloak.com/ made it into the list. And we're still beta -- though v1.0 is coming quite soon. Fun!

mtrichardson 15y ago
I'm using it right now, as is a friend I recommended it to a few minutes ago, thanks to this post.
- davepeck 15y ago
  Sweet, thanks. I did a "hey, HN, check out my beta" post a few months back. When we hit 1.0, I'll probably do another. I look forward to your feedback.
arb99 15y ago
looks good and like something i've been looking for (easy to set up vpn when using public wifi), but with only limited contact details on your site hard to build trustworthiness tbh.
- davepeck 15y ago
  Hi arb99, If you click "learn more" you get a lot of information about both the company and the team, including our address, phone number, photos and bios of the three of us, and links to our Twitter accounts. What contact information were you looking for? We see ourselves as (in part) being in the business of earning trust. That's obviously a difficult job, so whatever suggestions you can offer we'd definitely appreciate. Cheers, Dave
  - arb99 15y ago
    Oh ok. I only saw a mailto: link w/ an email address :)

rabenfrass 15y ago

SteerMouse + Logitech mouse of your choice.

kittxkat 15y ago

Very nice list, thanks for sharing! OT: is LaunchBar/Alfred really that better than Quicksilver? Has been some time since I last touched a Mac, but I was totally amazed by the magic that was Quicksilver.

woebtz 15y ago

As hard as I try, I can't seem to get used to the prettier Finder replacements. Some additions: * MuCommander (Norton Commander-style file manager) * ShiftIt (window management/"Aero Snap"/Moom alternative) * Isolator (widow focus indicator) * SecondBar (menu bar for your second monitor) * KeyRemap4Macbook/PCKeyboard Hack (remap keys, capslock=command, etc.) * BetterTouchTool (trackpad gestures, middle click!)

codenerdz 15y ago

First things I install on a new mac are: * TotalTerminal -- a quake-like CMD-~ terminal extension * RightZoom -- CMD-Shift-Q for maximizing the window to current screen

r00fus 15y ago

One tool that was indispensable for MySQL viewing editing: Sequel Pro [1]. I found it much more intuitive than Querious and it's free. [1] http://www.sequelpro.com/ http://www.sequelpro.com/

philwelch 15y ago

DTerm is great for when you want a quick shell prompt but don't want to have to switch to Terminal.

8ig8 15y ago

I appreciate this list, but I do wish the author would have linked to the software websites instead of to the app store. On the iPad, these app store links are useless. (As a side note, why can't these links be a little more intelligent? If they know I'm using an iPad, why not redirect to a better fallback?)

ldar15 15y ago

* SlickEdit is finally native on OSX * ECMerge Pro: proper 3-way merge with separate theirs, base, yours and result views. * Mind Manager Pro: bit pricey but served me well.

the_cat_kittles 15y ago

If you want something to help you learn and practice music, there is nothing quite like Transcribe!. You can adjust speed without changing pitch, change pitch, multi band eq, highlight and repeat regions, analyze a selection for the notes occurring in it, etc... http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html

pnathan 15y ago

* emacs * Terminal.app * SBCL * DiffMerge * GitHub.app * Graphviz * Chrome, Adium I have not spent 1 cent on software for my Mac so far. The only software that tempts me is OmniGraffle, because it really is that good. I live on the command line and quite often, in open source software.

risratorn 15y ago

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Charles http://www.charlesproxy.com/ http://www.charlesproxy.com/

uggedal 15y ago

My 11" Macbook Air setup is a bit unconventional: * Debian Wheezy (I haven't been able to create a customized and focused OS X setup) * Puppet (For managing the installation and configuration of all the following applications) * ssh * zsh (beats bash in my book) * ufw (best alternative I've found on Linux to BSDs pf) * tmux (obsoleted screen for me) * vim * ack (intelligent recursive file search) * git * rsync * curl * keychain (stores password decrypted ssh keys in memory) * awesome (tiling window manager configured in Lua) * urxvt (running in client-server mode to save resources) * spotify * mplayer (for playing videos and audio not streamed from spotify) * unclutter (hides the mouse after X seconds of inactivity (I rarely use the mouse)) * firefox (with pentadactyl for vim-like browsing) * chromium (for testing on webkit) * mupdf (lightweight pdf viewer) * sxiv (lightweight image viewer) * rdesktop (if I need to connect to a Windows machine at work) * rtorrent Most puppet modules and application configurations can be found here: http://github.com/uggedal http://github.com/uggedal

chalst 15y ago
What is this keychain? ssh-agent stores the decrypted keys in memory, too.
- robotblake 15y ago
  Keychain is a frontend (of sorts) for ssh-agent and ssh-add that helps you keep a single instance of ssh-agent running across login sessions. Pretty rad: http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Keychain http://www.funtoo.org/wiki/Keychain
davidjairala 15y ago
What kind of battery time do you get? I've been thinking of installing Debian on my MBA 11" for a while, the only thing holding me back has been battery time.
- uggedal 15y ago
  My 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo 11" lasts about 4.5 hours with Debian.

chalst 15y ago

I tried Omni Focus (I was in the beta programme, and I had been using than Schoonover's Kinkless GTD before, from which Omni Focus derived) and didn't like it. After some time I discovered Org mode and this works for me. I think the Org mode journal style just fits the way most people plan much better than the GTD ramified list approach. You have a file per project or maintenance domain and you jot down your priorities, interleaving tasks where they are relevant tasks. Then Org mode's tools put together the lists you need when you are getting through your tasks. There's no need to internalise a complex external model, a step that clearly many people fail at when they try to apply GTD. More generally, I find that when I started using OSX, I used a lot of the Apple-esque programs but over the years I've mostly migrated back to software that runs on Linux. OSX has increasingly become a wacky UNIX with a nice GUI to me. The superbly integrated Parallels is the only non-bundled software on OSX that I would really hate to live without.

gbrindisi 15y ago

What I really miss is a good tiling windows manager. I tried many apps out there, OptimanlLayout been the latest, and I still can't find a nice productive experience (a la xmonad, scrotwm or awesome). (I know I can use x11.app but It's freaking unusable)

coldflame23 15y ago

*Window Magnet http://magnet.crowdcafe.com/ http://magnet.crowdcafe.com/