Using UNIX with OS X: a second look

In the same "second look" spirit of the previous item, we took another look at the status of using UNIX in Mac OS X (see previous report). Again, we have good news to report. We have expressed concern that basic troubleshooting of OS X might require using Terminal. Our concern stemmed from our strong belief that most Mac users would not welcome having to learn and deal with UNIX commands. Our proposed solution was for developers to come up with Aqua-based utilities that bypassed the need to go to Terminal. We are pleased to report that there are already several excellent utilities that do just that. The day when the typical end-user can troubleshoot Mac OS X without needing Terminal may arrive sooner than we anticipated.

Here's a list of our current favorite third-party Mac OS X troubleshooting utilities (in alphabetical order):

• GetInfo
• MacJanitor
• Pseudo
• ShellShell
• TinkerTool
• xFiles
• Xoptimize

By the way, to be clear: we do not view Terminal as simply good or bad. It's both. Do we like using a command line? Not especially. We'd just as soon avoid having to memorize long lines of text that have little intuitive sense and force you to retype them from scratch if you make the slightest typing error (although using the cursor arrow keys helps avoid some retyping). On the other hand, we very much appreciate that, with Terminal, you can accomplish via a simple command line an incredible number of tasks. If Apple had tried to pack that much punch into Mac OS X without the use of UNIX, we'd probably have to wait until 2010 to see it. And it's much easier to create a small Aqua-app that puts a GUI over a UNIX set of instructions than it would be to figure out how to program the task from "scratch." There is no doubt that having UNIX available on the Mac can be a big plus!

However, OS X still has some work to do. We especially think about new Mac users, buying their first computer later this year - presinstalled with Mac OS X. Will it also come with Terminal and Classic installed? If so, when inevitable problems occur and the user calls for help, what happens when the user is instructed at different times to boot from OS 9.1 and later to use UNIX commands in Terminal? Having to deal with three OS's when you haven't even gotten the hang of the first one is not the way to make a good impression. We can only hope Apple is giving this some serious thought.