Mac OS X Unleashed

By John Ray and William C. Ray

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Introduction to Mac OS X
  • Chapter 1. Mac OS X Component Architecture
  • Chapter 2. Installing Mac OS X
  • Chapter 3. Mac OS X Basics
  • Chapter 4. The Finder: Working with Files and Applications
  • Chapter 5. Running Classic Mac OS Applications
  • Part II: Inside Mac OS X
  • Chapter 6. Native Utilities and Applications
  • Chapter 7. Internet Communications
  • Chapter 8. Installing Third-Party Applications
    • Software Sources and Formats
    • Using StuffIt Expander
    • Installing Software
    • Internet Software
    • Applications and Utilities
    • Screensavers
    • Dock Additions
    • Summary
  • Part III: User-Level OS X Configuration
  • Chapter 9. Network Setup
  • Chapter 10. Printer and Font Management
  • Chapter 11. Additional System Components
  • Part IV: Introduction to BSD Applications
  • Chapter 12. Introducing the BSD Subsystem
  • Chapter 13. Common Unix Shell Commands: File Operations
  • Part V: Advanced Command-Line Concepts
  • Chapter 14. Advanced Shell Concepts and Commands
  • Chapter 15. Command-Line Applications and Application Suites
  • Chapter 16. Command-Line Software Installation
  • Chapter 17. Troubleshooting Software Installs, and Compiling and Debugging Manually
  • Chapter 18. Advanced Unix Shell Use: Configuration and Programming (Shell Scripting)
  • Part VI: Server/Network Administration
  • Chapter 19. X Window System Applications
  • Chapter 20. Command-Line Configuration and Administration
  • Chapter 21. AppleScript
  • Chapter 22. Perl Scripting and SQL Connectivity
  • Chapter 23. File and Resource Sharing with NetInfo
  • Chapter 24. User Management and Machine Clustering
  • Chapter 25. FTP Serving
  • Chapter 26. Remote Access and Administration
  • Chapter 27. Web Serving
  • Part VII: Server Health
  • Chapter 28. Web Programming
  • Chapter 29. Creating a Mail Server
  • Chapter 30. Accessing and Serving a Windows Network
  • Chapter 31. Server Security and Advanced Network Configuration
  • Chapter 32. System Maintenance
  • Appendix A. Command-Line Reference
  • Appendix B. Administration Reference

Software Sources and Formats

Before you can use software, you must first download and unarchive it. The process of downloading software with Internet Explorer is not covered here because it is (I hope) a commonplace activity, although there will be a few additional applications introduced to make downloads easier.

There are a number of good online libraries of Mac OS X software. The following sites are the best places to look for the latest and greatest downloads:

• VersionTracker— www.versiontracker.com/vt_mac_osx.shtml—Updated continuously throughout the day, VersionTracker's Web site is often the first to carry new Mac OS X software.
• Mac OS X Apps— www.macosxapps.com/—This site features in-depth discussions on new software and uses a Slashdot-like interface for posting and discussion.
• Apple's Mac OS X Downloads— www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/—Although not always updated as quickly as the other two sites, Apple's collection is well documented and easily navigated.

Distribution Formats

For almost as long as the Macintosh has been able to connect to other networks and devices, it has used BinHex and MacBinary software distribution methods.

BinHex is similar to the output of the Unix uuencode command—it enables the transfer of binary files using a 7-bit text encoding. BinHex files can be recognized by the .hqx suffix. Because of its platform and transfer method independence, most Macintosh software you download will be encoded using the BinHex specification.

MacBinary is another encoding type that takes into account the Macintosh-specific features of the HFS file system. Although the Mac OS supports the notion of data and resource forks, it is impossible to store files with a resource fork on operating systems such as Microsoft's NTFS or FAT32 without some type of encoding. The MacBinary specification provides a method of representing both the data and resource fork within a single binary data stream. MacBinary files can be identified by the .bin suffix.

Archive Formats

Neither MacBinary nor BinHex is an archive format—they are common Macintosh file encodings, but are not capable of packaging software for installation. There are three archive methods common to Mac OS X software distributions:

• .dmg— Apple's preferred distribution format, the Disk Image is a double-clickable file that will mount a virtual disk image on your desktop. The .dmg file format is often combined with one of the other two archive types.
• .sit— The StuffIt archive is the most popular format for Carbon and Classic applications. Mac OS X ships with StuffIt Expander, an application capable of unarchiving .sit files and decoding .hqx/.bin-encoded distributions.
• .tar.gz— Gzipped Tarfile. This is actually a combination of the gzip (compression) and tar (archiving) utilities of the BSD subsystem. These files can be unarchived from the command line using tar zxf <archive name> or using StuffIt Expander.

In addition to .sit and .tar.gz files, StuffIt Expander can handle almost any archive format you give it. The version of StuffIt Expander included with Mac OS X 10.0.0, however, has a few bugs and should be upgraded to the latest version as quickly as possible.

Many people have replaced StuffIt Expander with the OpenUp software written by Scott Anguish. Scott's OpenUp application is better suited to handle Unix archive and encoding formats, and has the source code available for your viewing pleasure. I've had no trouble with StuffIt for most archives, but OpenUp is a powerful alternative for those who would like something a bit less commercial. Download OpenUp from www.stepwise.com/Software/OpenUp.

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