5 ms·

Show HN: Mac Hacks Wiki – A central repo for your ‘default writes’

27 points by whiskykilo 12y ago

danudey 12y ago
This seems like a better-documented, less-complete, and less user-friendly version of Secrets[1]. [1] http://secrets.blacktree.com http://secrets.blacktree.com
- whiskykilo 12y ago
  I've actually never run into Secrets! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will certainly be adding more to it over time. Do you have any specific suggestions?
  - McUsr 12y ago
    I advise everybody to not mess with anything written in red.
jimmcslim 12y ago
"This will download and install all updates available for your Mac: sudo softwareupdate -i -a" I'm assuming that it won't install App Store software that is in your account but not installed on the current machine? Which if so is a shame that Apple haven't exposed this via the command line (preferably specifying the name of the application to install).
- whiskykilo 12y ago
  I believe it does. I will spin up an OS X VM and test it later tonight, since my MBPr is fully up to date. I will of course update the site with what I find.
- whiskykilo 12y ago
  You can actually specify the application as well, IIRC. I will verify all of that later this evening when I'm in a place to do it.
  - whiskykilo 12y ago
    I've updated the site to include the details you were asking about. I was able to test it all on a OS X VM with great success. http://machacks.whiskykilo.com/hacks/app-store.html http://machacks.whiskykilo.com/hacks/app-store.html
coherentpony 12y ago
Where's the repository? I don't see it. Edit: I'm an idiot. I thought the title referred to a VCS repository.
- whiskykilo 12y ago
  Actually, the whole site is a repo hosted on Github Pages. If you'd like to contribute, feel free to do a pull request. https://github.com/whiskykilo/machacks.whiskykilo.com https://github.com/whiskykilo/machacks.whiskykilo.com
Scarbutt 12y ago
"Seriously, iTunes, does anyone still use you?" What do you use instead of itunes?
- chunkstuntman 12y ago
  http://coppertino.com/ http://coppertino.com/ http://banshee.fm/ http://banshee.fm/ http://ncmpcpp.rybczak.net/ http://ncmpcpp.rybczak.net/ https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/40721/winamp https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/40721/winamp
  - sigsergv 12y ago
    http://cogx.org http://cogx.org
- whiskykilo 12y ago
  I do most of my listening on Spotify, that was the only reason for the jab. I've just given up on iTunes for my personal use.
  - fit2rule 12y ago
    I've been trying to do it for years, but you've just tipped me over the edge .. off to buy a new hard drive to contain all my music, export from iTunes, delete ~/Music, and start again .. fresh .. as if it were 1999 all over again and all I have to do is organize my music folders manually again, just like I used to .. Pity there's no way to manage iOS apps outside of iTunes, though.
Scarbutt 12y ago
I use Karabiner to customize just two keys, does anyone know how can I make the enter key act as a control key when pressed simultaneously with another key and act as enter key when pressed alone? was thinking of a script that is called at startup.
whiskykilo 12y ago
So far there's been a pull request and a few additional hacks merged in tonight! Thanks everybody!
jjangsangy 12y ago
Cool stuff, lots of really good automation tricks that I haven't seen. I have a similar routine of doing a clean wipe every once in a while and wrote a bunch of scripts to make the process less painful. One of the more useful ones is a small shell wrapper around homebrew cask that batches installation packages based on category, and one that automates symbolically linking dotfiles using a configuration file. https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/c226a9d199fdd9ecba1f https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/c226a9d199fdd9ecba1f https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/2951a63fe45d2010bd8d https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/2951a63fe45d2010bd8d
- moepstar 12y ago
  Ok, but doing a clean wipe to just reload a backup from TimeMachine won't do any good since it'll restore all the cruft back, right? Which leads me to my second point: How would you go finding all those still relevant dotfiles and folders for settings of programs you still want to use and, with wiping, removing all obsolete ones?
fit2rule 12y ago
A better way to handle these (in my opinion) is to use the Secrets.prefPane .. and the related website: http://secrets.blacktree.com/ http://secrets.blacktree.com/ A much more comprehensive collection of tweaks and tips for OSX administration.. though I did learn a few things from WhiskyKilo which were quite interesting - I have wondered how to do this from the command line for years and am glad to have finally learned: "sudo softwareupdate -i -a" .. fantastic!
- McUsr 12y ago
  I advise everybody to not mess with any secrets setting that is listed with a red font.
cweiss 12y ago
Without delving much past the first page, it seems like Boxen would cover a lot of this territory? Boxen [1] is a puppet-based OS-X provisioning tool used by (among others) GitHub to set up new Macs in a hurry. It does take a little while to get configured and dialed in, but once it's set up, (re)provisioning a new Mac is almost fun. [1] https://boxen.github.com/ https://boxen.github.com/

27 points by whiskykilo 12y ago

This seems like a better-documented, less-complete, and less user-friendly version of Secrets[1]. [1] http://secrets.blacktree.com http://secrets.blacktree.com

whiskykilo 12y ago
I've actually never run into Secrets! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will certainly be adding more to it over time. Do you have any specific suggestions?
- McUsr 12y ago
  I advise everybody to not mess with anything written in red.

jimmcslim 12y ago

"This will download and install all updates available for your Mac: sudo softwareupdate -i -a" I'm assuming that it won't install App Store software that is in your account but not installed on the current machine? Which if so is a shame that Apple haven't exposed this via the command line (preferably specifying the name of the application to install).

whiskykilo 12y ago
I believe it does. I will spin up an OS X VM and test it later tonight, since my MBPr is fully up to date. I will of course update the site with what I find.
whiskykilo 12y ago
You can actually specify the application as well, IIRC. I will verify all of that later this evening when I'm in a place to do it.
- whiskykilo 12y ago
  I've updated the site to include the details you were asking about. I was able to test it all on a OS X VM with great success. http://machacks.whiskykilo.com/hacks/app-store.html http://machacks.whiskykilo.com/hacks/app-store.html

coherentpony 12y ago

Where's the repository? I don't see it. Edit: I'm an idiot. I thought the title referred to a VCS repository.

whiskykilo 12y ago
Actually, the whole site is a repo hosted on Github Pages. If you'd like to contribute, feel free to do a pull request. https://github.com/whiskykilo/machacks.whiskykilo.com https://github.com/whiskykilo/machacks.whiskykilo.com

Scarbutt 12y ago

"Seriously, iTunes, does anyone still use you?" What do you use instead of itunes?

chunkstuntman 12y ago
http://coppertino.com/ http://coppertino.com/ http://banshee.fm/ http://banshee.fm/ http://ncmpcpp.rybczak.net/ http://ncmpcpp.rybczak.net/ https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/40721/winamp https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/40721/winamp
- sigsergv 12y ago
  http://cogx.org http://cogx.org
whiskykilo 12y ago
I do most of my listening on Spotify, that was the only reason for the jab. I've just given up on iTunes for my personal use.
- fit2rule 12y ago
  I've been trying to do it for years, but you've just tipped me over the edge .. off to buy a new hard drive to contain all my music, export from iTunes, delete ~/Music, and start again .. fresh .. as if it were 1999 all over again and all I have to do is organize my music folders manually again, just like I used to .. Pity there's no way to manage iOS apps outside of iTunes, though.

Scarbutt 12y ago

I use Karabiner to customize just two keys, does anyone know how can I make the enter key act as a control key when pressed simultaneously with another key and act as enter key when pressed alone? was thinking of a script that is called at startup.

whiskykilo 12y ago

So far there's been a pull request and a few additional hacks merged in tonight! Thanks everybody!

jjangsangy 12y ago

Cool stuff, lots of really good automation tricks that I haven't seen. I have a similar routine of doing a clean wipe every once in a while and wrote a bunch of scripts to make the process less painful. One of the more useful ones is a small shell wrapper around homebrew cask that batches installation packages based on category, and one that automates symbolically linking dotfiles using a configuration file. https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/c226a9d199fdd9ecba1f https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/c226a9d199fdd9ecba1f https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/2951a63fe45d2010bd8d https://gist.github.com/jjangsangy/2951a63fe45d2010bd8d

moepstar 12y ago
Ok, but doing a clean wipe to just reload a backup from TimeMachine won't do any good since it'll restore all the cruft back, right? Which leads me to my second point: How would you go finding all those still relevant dotfiles and folders for settings of programs you still want to use and, with wiping, removing all obsolete ones?

fit2rule 12y ago

A better way to handle these (in my opinion) is to use the Secrets.prefPane .. and the related website: http://secrets.blacktree.com/ http://secrets.blacktree.com/ A much more comprehensive collection of tweaks and tips for OSX administration.. though I did learn a few things from WhiskyKilo which were quite interesting - I have wondered how to do this from the command line for years and am glad to have finally learned: "sudo softwareupdate -i -a" .. fantastic!

McUsr 12y ago
I advise everybody to not mess with any secrets setting that is listed with a red font.

cweiss 12y ago

Without delving much past the first page, it seems like Boxen would cover a lot of this territory? Boxen [1] is a puppet-based OS-X provisioning tool used by (among others) GitHub to set up new Macs in a hurry. It does take a little while to get configured and dialed in, but once it's set up, (re)provisioning a new Mac is almost fun. [1] https://boxen.github.com/ https://boxen.github.com/