• OS X and single user

    From Scott@Heimdall@spamless.invalid to comp.sys.mac.system on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 19:58:46
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    Well, just got a new Powerbook with OS X, my first use of OS X after
    starting with System 6.

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for optimizing usage for one person?

    --
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  • From Marc Heusser@marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALSPAMMERS.invalid to comp.sys.mac.system on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 22:06:20
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article <Heimdall-CAEBB3.15585102072003@rcache2.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>,
    Scott <Heimdall@spamless.invalid> wrote:

    Well, just got a new Powerbook with OS X, my first use of OS X after starting with System 6.

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for optimizing usage for one person?

    No - none necessary.
    If you like to forego protection, you can set autologin in the
    preferences.

    Marc

    --
    Marc Heusser - Zurich, Switzerland
    Coaching - Consulting - Counselling - Psychotherapy
    http://www.heusser.com
    remove the obvious CHEERS and MERCIAL... from the reply address
    to reply via e-mail
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  • From pack@pack@eos.ucar.edu (Daniel Packman) to comp.sys.mac.system on Wednesday, July 02, 2003 22:43:50
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article <Heimdall-CAEBB3.15585102072003@rcache2.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>,
    Scott <Heimdall@spamless.invalid> wrote:
    Well, just got a new Powerbook with OS X, my first use of OS X after >starting with System 6.

    Enjoy. Expect some differences.

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for >optimizing usage for one person?

    Not much comes to mind except the option of setting it to come up with
    you logged in and skipping the login process entirely. This is a bit
    more convenient for a single user, but it is a slight security exposure.

    --
    Daniel Packman
    NCAR/ACD
    pack@ucar.edu
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  • From wheat@harvest-this@mail.utexas.edu to comp.sys.mac.system on Thursday, July 03, 2003 09:52:04
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    Scott wrote:

    Well, just got a new Powerbook with OS X, my first use of OS X after starting with System 6.

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for optimizing usage for one person?


    I would still consider adding a second account. Call it guest or some
    such thing. This will allow the occasional lend of your machine briefly
    and still protect your vitals.

    In fact, many that I know have an admin account purely for admin
    purposes, and have a non-privileged user for work space. They spend all
    their time in the less privileged mode. One advantage is it keeps one
    from tinkering constantly with new widgets and toys because it is such a
    pain to log out and in for installs.

    cheers.

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  • From Sally Shears@sshears@theWorld.com to comp.sys.mac.system on Friday, July 04, 2003 02:26:36
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    Ryan Graham <rgraham@rqewmeosvte.net> wrote:
    : in article be1fse$hec$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu, wheat at
    : harvest-this@mail.utexas.edu wrote on 7/3/03 8:52 AM:

    Scott wrote:

    Well, just got a new Powerbook with OS X, my first use of OS X after
    starting with System 6.

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for
    optimizing usage for one person?

    In fact, many that I know have an admin account purely for admin
    purposes, and have a non-privileged user for work space. They spend all their time in the less privileged mode.

    : A slightly different take on this approach is to have two admin level
    : accounts setup, the first is the one you do all your work in, the other you
    : never touch. If you mess something up real bad in the first, you can login
    : under the second and fix it.

    I think it's best to work all the time in an admin account... Otherwise, software installs are a real pain.

    I like Ryan's idea of two admin accounts, for the reason he stated.

    -- Sally
    --

    Sally Shears (a.k.a. "Molly")
    sshears@theWorld.com -or- Sally@Shears.org
    http://theWorld.com/~sshears
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  • From anno4000@anno4000@lublin.zrz.tu-berlin.de (Anno Siegel) to comp.sys.mac.system on Friday, July 04, 2003 12:16:21
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    Sally Shears <sshears@theWorld.com> wrote in comp.sys.mac.system:
    Ryan Graham <rgraham@rqewmeosvte.net> wrote:
    : in article be1fse$hec$1@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu, wheat at
    : harvest-this@mail.utexas.edu wrote on 7/3/03 8:52 AM:

    Scott wrote:

    Well, just got a new Powerbook with OS X, my first use of OS X after
    starting with System 6.

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for :>> optimizing usage for one person?

    In fact, many that I know have an admin account purely for admin
    purposes, and have a non-privileged user for work space. They spend all their time in the less privileged mode.

    : A slightly different take on this approach is to have two admin level
    : accounts setup, the first is the one you do all your work in, the other you : never touch. If you mess something up real bad in the first, you can login : under the second and fix it.

    I think it's best to work all the time in an admin account... Otherwise, software installs are a real pain.

    I like Ryan's idea of two admin accounts, for the reason he stated.

    So do I. In fact, I'd tend to set the initial account (the one OS X
    creates on installation) aside for this purpose and create a second (admin-enabled) account for day-to-day use. The reason is that some
    changes to an existing account are best made by creating a new one, transferring the data and deleting the old one. Since the initial
    account can't be deleted, it is rather immutable.

    Anno
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  • From Dave Seaman@dseaman@no.such.host to comp.sys.mac.system on Friday, July 04, 2003 23:50:46
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 4 Jul 2003 21:36:08 GMT, Anno Siegel wrote:
    Dave Seaman <dseaman@no.such.host> wrote in comp.sys.mac.system:
    On 4 Jul 2003 12:16:21 GMT, Anno Siegel wrote:
    Sally Shears <sshears@theWorld.com> wrote in comp.sys.mac.system:

    I like Ryan's idea of two admin accounts, for the reason he stated.

    So do I. In fact, I'd tend to set the initial account (the one OS X
    creates on installation) aside for this purpose and create a second
    (admin-enabled) account for day-to-day use. The reason is that some
    changes to an existing account are best made by creating a new one,
    transferring the data and deleting the old one. Since the initial
    account can't be deleted, it is rather immutable.

    The initial account can be deleted, provided it is not the only admin
    account on the machine. There must be at least one admin account.

    That makes sense, and it's what I would expect. However I find I am only offered the "Delete User" option for one of two admin accounts on my
    machine, namely the one that was created later. (Neither can I change
    the initial user's long name.)

    Try logging in to your other admin account and repeat the experiment.
    You can't delete or edit the account of a user who is currently logged
    in.

    I concluded that the initial account is special that way, but apparently isn't supposed to behave like that. I'd be grateful for a fix.

    I see nothing special about the initial account, except that it is
    initially an admin account. I say "initially", because I just made my
    initial account a non-admin account.


    --
    Dave Seaman
    Judge Yohn's mistakes revealed in Mumia Abu-Jamal ruling. <http://www.commoncouragepress.com/index.cfm?action=book&bookid=228>
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  • From anno4000@anno4000@lublin.zrz.tu-berlin.de (Anno Siegel) to comp.sys.mac.system on Saturday, July 05, 2003 10:40:56
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    Dave Seaman <dseaman@no.such.host> wrote in comp.sys.mac.system:
    On 4 Jul 2003 21:36:08 GMT, Anno Siegel wrote:
    Dave Seaman <dseaman@no.such.host> wrote in comp.sys.mac.system:
    On 4 Jul 2003 12:16:21 GMT, Anno Siegel wrote:
    Sally Shears <sshears@theWorld.com> wrote in comp.sys.mac.system:

    I like Ryan's idea of two admin accounts, for the reason he stated.

    So do I. In fact, I'd tend to set the initial account (the one OS X
    creates on installation) aside for this purpose and create a second
    (admin-enabled) account for day-to-day use. The reason is that some
    changes to an existing account are best made by creating a new one,
    transferring the data and deleting the old one. Since the initial
    account can't be deleted, it is rather immutable.

    The initial account can be deleted, provided it is not the only admin
    account on the machine. There must be at least one admin account.

    That makes sense, and it's what I would expect. However I find I am only offered the "Delete User" option for one of two admin accounts on my machine, namely the one that was created later. (Neither can I change
    the initial user's long name.)

    Try logging in to your other admin account and repeat the experiment.
    You can't delete or edit the account of a user who is currently logged
    in.

    Oh dear, I didn't even think of that.... Plain Unix doesn't have that restriction. Thanks for the simple solution for a nagging problem.

    Anno
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  • From jimglidewell@jimglidewell@attbi.com (Jim Glidewell) to comp.sys.mac.system on Monday, July 07, 2003 22:57:18
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    In article <be2oks$9a0$3@pcls4.std.com>, Sally Shears <sshears@theWorld.com> wrote:

    I will, beyond a doubt, be this Mac's only user. Are there any tips for :>> optimizing usage for one person?

    In fact, many that I know have an admin account purely for admin
    purposes, and have a non-privileged user for work space. They spend all their time in the less privileged mode.

    : A slightly different take on this approach is to have two admin level
    : accounts setup, the first is the one you do all your work in, the other you : never touch. If you mess something up real bad in the first, you can login : under the second and fix it.

    I think it's best to work all the time in an admin account... Otherwise, software installs are a real pain.

    I agree. But the idea of dropping my day-to-day account back to non-admin status might get a bit more attractive when Panther's multiple simultaneous logins facility is available, and the admin account (already logged in) is
    just a click away...

    I like Ryan's idea of two admin accounts, for the reason he stated.

    Yep.

    Both a second "emergency" admin account and a non-admin guest account
    are good ideas.

    None of these are really required, though, and a single auto-login
    admin account shields the new OSX user from a lot of the niggling
    permissions issues that occur when trying to get at files belonging
    to one's _other_ account, while stll protecting the integrity of
    the OS.

    And while it has no direct bearing on the subject line, I do think that
    the OP would be well served to buy a copy of Pogue's "Mac OS X: The
    Missing Manual" which should ease the transition from Mac OS 6/7/8/9
    a great deal.

    --
    Jim Glidewell
    My opinions only
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