Skip to Content
Mac OS X Hacks
book

Mac OS X Hacks

by Kevin Hemenway, Rael Dornfest
March 2003
Beginner
432 pages
11h 30m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Mac OS X Hacks

Understanding and Hacking Your User Account

Before Mac OS X was released, there wasn’t really a concept of a user or account in the Macintosh environment. This hack introduces you to what it means to have an account and what this business of a Home directory is all about. We’ll also show you how to rename an account — a nonobvious task indeed.

When Mac OS X first appeared, a lot of people were aghast at the concept of user accounts, especially when they were the only ones using their computer. “Why go through all the hassle when only I exist?” they asked. The complaints only intensified as users were asked to enter an administrator password [Hack #50] for access to certain files, sometimes even denied access to settings and files on their very own computers — the gall of it!

The reasoning is two-fold: to protect you from yourself and to support Mac OS X’s multiuser environment.

The concept of protecting you from yourself may at first blush appear intrusive, but we’ve all had an instance where we’ve deleted an innocent file from our OS 9 System Folder, only to discover our idiocy when our system didn’t reboot, our printer didn’t print, or our modem didn’t sizzle. In this regard, OS X has your back; crucial files necessary for everyday operation are protected from overzealous removal.

The multiuser environment of OS X is based on technology that’s been around for a while in the Unix world: a system of checks and balances that stop your kid sister from gleefully deleting that Photoshop ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Pro Oracle Database 11g RAC on Linux

Pro Oracle Database 11g RAC on Linux

Steve Shaw, Martin Bach
UNIX° TEXT PROCESSING

UNIX° TEXT PROCESSING

Dale Dougherty, Tim O'Reilly

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596004605Catalog PageErrata