3 ms·

Does openrsync work? The problem with Apple's ancient userspace is so many of the utilities are outdated and don't support things like files bigger than 4GB. S

Does openrsync work? The problem with Apple's ancient userspace is so many of the utilities are outdated and don't support things like files bigger than 4GB. So switching to a tool updated in the last 19 years may be an improvement. But then rsync is such a standard, is openrsync 100% compatible? The need to install and maintain Homebrew was a big part of why I switched from MacOS to Windows. WSL is a very good Unix environment, being just Ubuntu or Debian.

alphabettsy 2y ago
How is maintaining two operating systems simpler?
- tymscar 2y ago
  To me this post can be framed under dissonance in the dictionary. Installing a package manager and a package from it apparently is harder than installing an OS and the installing a package from its package manager. And lets be honest here. It’s not like homebrew is a set in stone necessity. I use Nix, theres macports, you can build the package from source. All with less complexity than running what is in the end a whole os in a vm
  - hughw 2y ago
    I'm mystified at Homebrew's dominance. It seemed to come unglued for me every few months. I switched to Macports years ago and my cli world has been stable and up-to-date.
    - pasc1878 2y ago
      I suspect because users and the originbal auithor did not understand multi user UNIX and so don't like the idea of having to use sudo and also they use Apple tools as much as possible rather than controlling the versions of libraries that they use which would be what commercial users were doing with Unix over 20 years before. It also uses /usr/local which is for locally compiled software so you get in a mess if you have a compiled version of a library that is also in Homebrew. Macports and nix and fink will build under a new user id and install as root as per any other Unix. Thus the build can be controlled to only use known versions of other libraries. Homebrew installs as the current user. - Try using it when you do have multiple users on a mac (which is uncommon).
      - latexr 2y ago
        > It also uses /usr/local That is only true on Intel—on Apple Silicon it uses /opt/homebrew—so it will only become less true as time goes on. The only reason it used /usr/local in the first place was that at the time many of the software packages it supported were broken if installed anywhere but /usr/local. In other words, Homebrew didn’t pick that location to annoy you or because they didn’t know better, but for a real practical reason. That location was always an optional default, you’re free to change it. If you do, everything will be compiled from source rather than using compiled binaries and won’t be offered support. But it does work.
        pasc1878 2y ago
        macports and fink managed in another directory for 8+ years before Anything using normal Unix build tools like autotools allow easy change of install directory.
- NelsonMinar 2y ago
  I don't think at all about the Windows host. It's purely a Linux system when I interact with it. Homebrew sort of gives you that too in its setup by virtue of putting all its stuff in a particular path.
- emmelaich 2y ago
  You don't really do maintenance on either. It's just clicky stuff or apt|dnf update. Do your classic gui apps stuff in MacOS and everything cli-oriented or development in Linux.
commandersaki 2y ago
don't support things like files bigger than 4GB citation needed
- NelsonMinar 2y ago
  The specific example I was thinking of was unzip: MacOS couldn't handle zip files over 2GB. At least it couldn't back in 2016, with MacOS 10.11.4. I don't know if it's fixed now. if so, yay! But mainline unzip had fixed this in February 2005, so it took at least 11 years for that to propagate to Apple. I asked a couple of AIs just now and they think most MacOS utilities now work with big files.
procaryote 2y ago
I imagine it will kind of work, with some weird traps, much like the ancient version of bash bundled, or the buggy bsd grep bundled or the weird mktemp bundled etc Mac OS userland is slowly rotting away because they're terrified of GPL. It's strange, as installing a modern version of rsync seems like it would be specifically allowed by GPL without "infecting" any other parts of the OS
- pasc1878 2y ago
  The important word here is "seems". Where is the case law that backs up your statements. Apple does not want to be part of a legal case re GPL.

alphabettsy 2y ago

How is maintaining two operating systems simpler?

tymscar 2y ago
To me this post can be framed under dissonance in the dictionary. Installing a package manager and a package from it apparently is harder than installing an OS and the installing a package from its package manager. And lets be honest here. It’s not like homebrew is a set in stone necessity. I use Nix, theres macports, you can build the package from source. All with less complexity than running what is in the end a whole os in a vm
- hughw 2y ago
  I'm mystified at Homebrew's dominance. It seemed to come unglued for me every few months. I switched to Macports years ago and my cli world has been stable and up-to-date.
  - pasc1878 2y ago
    I suspect because users and the originbal auithor did not understand multi user UNIX and so don't like the idea of having to use sudo and also they use Apple tools as much as possible rather than controlling the versions of libraries that they use which would be what commercial users were doing with Unix over 20 years before. It also uses /usr/local which is for locally compiled software so you get in a mess if you have a compiled version of a library that is also in Homebrew. Macports and nix and fink will build under a new user id and install as root as per any other Unix. Thus the build can be controlled to only use known versions of other libraries. Homebrew installs as the current user. - Try using it when you do have multiple users on a mac (which is uncommon).
    - latexr 2y ago
      > It also uses /usr/local That is only true on Intel—on Apple Silicon it uses /opt/homebrew—so it will only become less true as time goes on. The only reason it used /usr/local in the first place was that at the time many of the software packages it supported were broken if installed anywhere but /usr/local. In other words, Homebrew didn’t pick that location to annoy you or because they didn’t know better, but for a real practical reason. That location was always an optional default, you’re free to change it. If you do, everything will be compiled from source rather than using compiled binaries and won’t be offered support. But it does work.
      - pasc1878 2y ago
        macports and fink managed in another directory for 8+ years before Anything using normal Unix build tools like autotools allow easy change of install directory.
NelsonMinar 2y ago
I don't think at all about the Windows host. It's purely a Linux system when I interact with it. Homebrew sort of gives you that too in its setup by virtue of putting all its stuff in a particular path.
emmelaich 2y ago
You don't really do maintenance on either. It's just clicky stuff or apt|dnf update. Do your classic gui apps stuff in MacOS and everything cli-oriented or development in Linux.

commandersaki 2y ago

don't support things like files bigger than 4GB citation needed

NelsonMinar 2y ago
The specific example I was thinking of was unzip: MacOS couldn't handle zip files over 2GB. At least it couldn't back in 2016, with MacOS 10.11.4. I don't know if it's fixed now. if so, yay! But mainline unzip had fixed this in February 2005, so it took at least 11 years for that to propagate to Apple. I asked a couple of AIs just now and they think most MacOS utilities now work with big files.

procaryote 2y ago

I imagine it will kind of work, with some weird traps, much like the ancient version of bash bundled, or the buggy bsd grep bundled or the weird mktemp bundled etc Mac OS userland is slowly rotting away because they're terrified of GPL. It's strange, as installing a modern version of rsync seems like it would be specifically allowed by GPL without "infecting" any other parts of the OS

pasc1878 2y ago
The important word here is "seems". Where is the case law that backs up your statements. Apple does not want to be part of a legal case re GPL.