Apple's Moves Point To a Future With No Bootable Backups, Says Developer (appleinsider.com) 105
The ability to boot from an external drive on an Apple Silicon Mac may not be an option for much longer, with the creation and use of the drives apparently being phased out by Apple, according to developers of backup tools. Apple Insider reports: Mike Bombich, the founder of Bombich Software behind Carbon Copy Cloner, wrote in a May 19 blog post that the company will continue to make bootable backups for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and will "continue to support that functionality as long as macOS supports it." However, with changes in the way a Mac functions with the introduction of Apple Silicon, the ability to use external booting could be limited, in part due to Apple's design decisions.
The first problem is with macOS Big Sur, as Apple made it so macOS resides on a "cryptographically sealed Signed System Volume," which could only be copied by Apple Software Restore. While CCC has experience with ASR, the tool was deemed to be imperfect, with it failing "with no explanation" and operating in a "very one-dimensional" way. The second snag was Apple Fabric, a storage system that uses per-file encryption keys. However, ASR didn't work for months until the release of macOS 11.3 restored it, but even then kernel panics ensued when cloning back to the original internal storage.
In December, Bombich spoke to Apple about ASR's reliability and was informed that Apple was working to resolve the problem. During the call, Apple's engineers also said that copying macOS system files was "not something that would be supportable in the future." "Many of us in the Mac community could see that this was the direction Apple was moving, and now we finally have confirmation," writes Bombich. "Especially since the introduction of APFS, Apple has been moving towards a lockdown of macOS system files, sacrificing some convenience for increased security." [...] While CCC won't drop the ability to copy the System folder, the tool is "going to continue to offer it with a best effort' approach." Meanwhile, for non-bootable data restoration, CCC's backups do still work with the macOS Migration Assistant, available when booting up a new Mac for the first time.
The first problem is with macOS Big Sur, as Apple made it so macOS resides on a "cryptographically sealed Signed System Volume," which could only be copied by Apple Software Restore. While CCC has experience with ASR, the tool was deemed to be imperfect, with it failing "with no explanation" and operating in a "very one-dimensional" way. The second snag was Apple Fabric, a storage system that uses per-file encryption keys. However, ASR didn't work for months until the release of macOS 11.3 restored it, but even then kernel panics ensued when cloning back to the original internal storage.
In December, Bombich spoke to Apple about ASR's reliability and was informed that Apple was working to resolve the problem. During the call, Apple's engineers also said that copying macOS system files was "not something that would be supportable in the future." "Many of us in the Mac community could see that this was the direction Apple was moving, and now we finally have confirmation," writes Bombich. "Especially since the introduction of APFS, Apple has been moving towards a lockdown of macOS system files, sacrificing some convenience for increased security." [...] While CCC won't drop the ability to copy the System folder, the tool is "going to continue to offer it with a best effort' approach." Meanwhile, for non-bootable data restoration, CCC's backups do still work with the macOS Migration Assistant, available when booting up a new Mac for the first time.
Apple says ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Apple says ... (Score:4, Insightful)
It appears they object to people restoring from backups. Which makes perfect sense. If you're an Applehead, why on earth would you want to restore a broken machine? Just buy a new one.
Re:Apple says ... (Score:5, Interesting)
there are many reasons for wanting to boot a different image on your machine, and not all mac users are computer-illiterate. even developers like to use macs for some reason. good for them. however, if you pay extra just to get a walled garden then you shouldn't be surprised to get a walled garden.
Re: Apple says ... (Score:2)
Apple users have loved the idea of a walled garden for years now. That the walls are getting higher and the entry and exit now have a padlock probably doesn't change much.
Just wait, in a few minutes an apple user will come in and talk about the virtues of the security theater offered by apples locked-in approach.
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One could or just point to how the PC side isn't any better. [microsoft.com]
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Secure boot can be turned off.
For now, and not on Windows RT devices [howtogeek.com]. Call me paranoid, but I don't trust any corporation, least of all M$, any further than I can throw it.
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For now, and not on Windows RT devices [howtogeek.com]. Call me paranoid, but I don't trust any corporation, least of all M$, any further than I can throw it.
You guys have been saying that for over 15 years. The world didn't end as you predicted, and to this day it remains a condition of the Designed for Windows certification that a device is shipped with the option to disable it, and even if it isn't disabled that doesn't preclude you from installing another OS providing the boot record is signed. You use the term M$ childishly while ignoring that Microsoft openly cross sign binaries from other OSes, which is why you can happily install many other OSes without
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Windows RT, last release 5 years ago. I think we can say that idea failed pretty hard and Microsoft has shown no interest in locking down systems ever since.
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Oh no! You can't disable SecureBoot on devices that even Microsoft gave up on 5 years ago and wrote down hundreds of millions of dollars of inventory on because nobody (except you, apparently) wanted to buy?
Meanwhile, there's still millions of systems that use a non-cancelled version of Windows where you can turn of SecureBoot just fine, including systems that are shipping today.
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One could or just point to how the PC side isn't any better. [microsoft.com]
Actually secure boot, as it is implemented, is a good thing. It is PKI based and you can load your own keys, effectively giving you, the end user, total ownership of the chain of trust.
https://www.linuxjournal.com/c... [linuxjournal.com]
I personally use secure booting so that I can have some degree of certainty that I'm not running under a bootkit. This guarantees that I'm in control of what is running on my system. That is the total opposite of the Apple model where it guarantees that Apple is in control, and you, the end us
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It's understandable. Secure Boot has been the target of quite a bit of slander at the hands of ignorant fucking toolsheds.
Still, that's no excuse to continue the tradition. Educate yourself.
I have yet to run into a computer where you didn't have full control over Secure Boot (indeed, it would be a violation of the UEFI standard where it is defined)
You can, should you be so inclined: entirely replace the PK.
You have full control over
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One could or just point to how the PC side isn't any better. [microsoft.com]
Actually you can point to PC side being better. It was a condition for Microsoft certification of devices that the BIOS comes with the option to disable Secure Boot. A device without the option to disable Secure Boot isn't allowed to advertise itself as Designed for Windows. Even Microsoft's own first party option gives the user the ability to disable Secure Boot.
This is all a good thing. Secure Boot provides a very real security benefit, and the ability to control it empowers users. Quite the opposite of w
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Apple users have loved the idea of a walled garden for years now.
The sentry towers look particularly lovely from the inside.
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Just wait, in a few minutes an apple user will come in and talk about the virtues of the security theater offered by apples locked-in approach.
Actually, no.
We tell you: you are just an idiot.
The only one thing I downloaded from "Apples Walled Garden" is Baldur's Gate.
Everything else I downloaded from the manufactor webs site.
Idiot.
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there are many reasons for wanting to boot a different image on your machine
Are you suggesting that Apple users actively want to boot it wrong?
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In the case of ransomware, you would image a broken machine and restore it, which is exactly what Apple is trying to prevent. You restore a clean, signed image and then restore all the users' crap on there and as long as they don't re-launch the broken crap you should be golden.
Imaging has long gone the way of the dodo. Since the introduction of Windows 10, even Microsoft is pooh-poohing the idea of doing images over simply providing the user a laptop, connecting them over the AD cloud and have the organiza
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Images have not now nor will they ever go the way of the dodo. A properly done backup strategy maintains historical backups. In the case of ransomware, you find the image from a point which predates the problem and Bob is your uncle.
Images will not go away in any business computing environment because they are easy, they are fast, and you don't have to worry about the operating system arguing with you about it. What you are describing is a bare-metal restore of a computer, which is always more complicate
Re:Apple says ... Hahahahahahaha! (Score:1)
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As far as backups go, I was always confused as to why people backup with anything other than time machine onto network drives. I have a NAS that serves as a Time Machine target (I keep a second one in my office just incase the laptop and the home one die at the same time like fire). It works very well, allows me to use it as both the backup and the disaster recovery solution, and it is file level, and incrementally aware in most apps of changes.
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As far as backups go, I was always confused as to why people backup with anything other than time machine onto network drives.
Might have something to do with Time Machine-to-NAS requiring the NAS to support SMB - which is considered hideously insecure in modern times. Your other options are a direct-connected USB (or Thunderbolt) drive or an AirPort Time Capsule (which Apple no longer sells).
Apple is basically headed down the path to: backup user files to iCloud, everything else is expendable.
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Might have something to do with Time Machine-to-NAS requiring the NAS to support SMB
I don't believe this is correct. I use Time Machine to back up to my NAS over Apple Filing Protocol. [wikipedia.org]
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AFP has its own set of problems, to the point where Apple doesn't even really recommend it's usage any more in favor of CIFS / SMB. Your own link has it being deprecated as of MacOS 10.9 which was like 4 years ago.
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It may not be your cup of tea, but many still love the MBP. As far as backups go, I was always confused as to why people backup with anything other than time machine onto network drives. I have a NAS that serves as a Time Machine target (I keep a second one in my office just incase the laptop and the home one die at the same time like fire). It works very well, allows me to use it as both the backup and the disaster recovery solution, and it is file level, and incrementally aware in most apps of changes. I think the qualm here is that Mac OS wont boot on anything but the internal drive? That sucks. It was useful to boot up other images.
There are multiple reasons why people backup with anything other than time machine onto network drives:
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Time Machine isn't that infallible. There are a lot of people who gripe about it saying backups are corrupted, and that it needs to erase all backups and reset everything. I've found that unless one has a long since discontinued Time Capsule, backing up a NAS can have this happen.
Plus, it would be nice if Apple offered an API for restores Yes, people can reinstall the OS, throw on apps and load their data, but oftentimes apps that people use wind up being pulled from the App Store.
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I think the qualm here is that Mac OS wont boot on anything but the internal drive? That sucks. It was useful to boot up other images.
Current Macs boot from everything. And I doubt that will ever change.
Hold "option" during boot, select your boot drive. Easy.
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As far as backups go, I was always confused as to why people backup with anything other than time machine onto network drives.
Well, for one thing it can be quite handy to have a backup that is bootable (which is the main reason for using CCC). If you backup with CCC you have a disk that can be an instant replacement in case anything goes wrong (software update, data loss, physical problems) with the original HD. You won't loose any time in a restore process.
Secondly I and many others have found Time Machine to be unreliable. I have had one instance where the backup became corrupted and had to be rebuild from scratch. On another in
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Yet I will have no trouble finding someone who will tell me how great they are. I may not even have to look for them, they'll come to me to spread the Good News.
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Why yes they are. Have you been saved yet? Or at least your machine.
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Pretty much.
If your system happens to get infected by malware/ransomware, how do you do a clean boot so you can be sure that what you restore isn't getting re-infected?
Re:Nice, now if the boot is comprimised... (Score:5, Informative)
The ability to download and install MacOS is built into all Mac made in the past 7 years or so. You can replace a hard drive, boot while holding a key combo, then proceed to partition / format the hard drive and then install MacOS. No boot media is required. When booting MacOS for the first time you then have the option to restore from backup - either online, external hard drive, etc. Just make sure to not copy the malware from your backup.
It sounds like the ability to copy and then boot from a partition is potentially no longer going to work. If the OS files are encrypted then they will not be readable after being copied to a new partition. But this does not stop you from installing MacOS on multiple partitions, you just have to do it manually then use the migration assistant for non-OS related files.
If you create software for copying OS images then this change will impact you in a big way. For everyone else - not so much.
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So they have an OS image in ROM? Or you're fucked if you don't have a good internet connection?
We're getting closer to Job's vision of the Mac as a toaster, next will be removing colour as users don't need colour to quote him.
Re:Nice, now if the boot is comprimised... (Score:5, Informative)
So they have an OS image in ROM? Or you're fucked if you don't have a good internet connection?
No, the OS is not in ROM. Mac firmware allows you to boot from internally or externally attached devices, the recovery partition automatically set up during installation on any local boot disk, or over the Internet to the original or current version of the OS the machine shipped with.
That's more choices and flexibility than most other x86 or ARM systems.
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If you don't have an Internet connection that can download 300MB, then I think you're fucked either way. No sane user will be able to use a computer if it can't download an image the size which dwarves any office package or Adobe software.
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--300MB is laughable, the High Sierra install app is over 5GB and Mojave is over 6GB! If you're down with a bad hard drive and you need to Take Care of Business, you want to be back up and running ASAP - which means booting from your backup drive, not downloading the installer over the internet and Bogarting your internet connection for everyone in the house for hours.
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I think booting from a back up drive is the most rarest thing in IT.
I certainly never did it. Not while I was admin of a few hundred machines, nor when I worked on a couple of multi million dollar Suns. Nor any one of my relatives or I on any of my dozen linux machines and macs: Why the funk would you boot from a back up? A back up usually does not even have a boot loader or a kernel.
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--Welp, CCC made it the easiest thing in the world and it saved my ass a few times when the iMac internal drive went bad. So I had no problems paying for their software, and recommend it to others. Literally the best time saver in my backup arsenal. Don't need to mess with a restore and waste hours getting back to a usable state when you've already got your entire live environment on a spare drive or two.
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It takes ~300MB to boot the recovery image from Apple, from there you can decide to download the new OS (which is indeed ~3-4GB compressed) or restore from Time Machine backup. Many other tools can also hook in to that point (eg. DeployStudio and CCC) to restore a backup.
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It wasn't too long ago I was stuck on dial up, 300 MB was a large download. Now with a cell connection, the quotas are pretty low, especially here in Canada, which is about number 2 on the most expensive list.
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Re: Nice, now if the boot is comprimised... (Score:4, Informative)
Internet Recovery would be used where there's no recovery volume on the drive. The only time I use physical media for reinstalling is if I'm installing an older version of macOS so I can dual boot (e.g. Mojave for 32-bit support).
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no honestly you can install a new hdd boot with alt R and format the drive you just need to give the system wifi access and it will download and install no boot media needed.
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I am glad you noted the replaced hard drive. I used that example on purpose to indicate that you can boot even if you do not have a recovery partition. As others have noted, the required software is downloaded automatically - no boot media required.
The first thing many people do to optimize there Mac systems is to re-partition and re-format their main hard drive and then reinstall MacOS from the Internet. The reason for doing this is that the recovery partition consumes a significant amount of space.
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Yes, there is a recovery partition.
No, it is not required.
Yes, you can totally swap the storage device out, and still boot from the Internet on any Mac shipped in the last 8 years or so.
You're wrong.
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--The problem is, literally NO ONE wants things done the way Apple is moving towards. Booting directly from a backup drive has been a great thing for decades and there's *no* good reason to change that now to break existing functionality.
--Do we need a change.org petition for this?
Re:Nice, now if the boot is comprimised... (Score:5, Informative)
Apple is not preventing you from booting from an attached volume/device. The article doesn’t say that. BeauHD’ssummary is flawed.
Apple is simply preventing you from backing up your system volume such that the backup is another bootable system volume. You can still attach a device with an installer on signed system volume and restore your device ( or you know, just boot from the restore partition ).
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Ah, well that explains it. Thank you for enlightening me.
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If your system happens to get infected by malware/ransomware, how do you do a clean boot so you can be sure that what you restore isn't getting re-infected?
What are you talking about? Everybody knows that macs don't get viruses!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Pretty much.
If your system happens to get infected by malware/ransomware, how do you do a clean boot so you can be sure that what you restore isn't getting re-infected?
If you are affected by ransomware, restoring a full partition is probably one of the worst things you can do.... to be a useful backup, it needs to be updated frequently. If this is your backup, you don't have a lot of history... and your backup is probably infected.
A much better way would be to reinstall the whole system, install the apps you need,apply security updates, install security software etc. and restore user data separately.
My use case for taking a whole snapshot and restoring it has been if th
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Well, Apple has had the ability to restore the OS from their own datacenter by booting over the Internet for almost a decade now, so there's that. And then if the firmware on the device is looking for a signed OS image to boot, that would mean that restoring a pre-compromised system would mean that Apple's NetBoot images in their own data centers - all of them - have been compromised in a way that doesn't violate the cryptographic signature.
Do you see that as a possibility?
Re:Nice, now if the boot is comprimised... (Score:5, Informative)
Melodramatic much?
First, no one with any semblance of experience would do a file by file restore of their system volume if that volume is compromised. How would you know if the system volume backup was not compromised as well? Even if you knew you would have to wipe the volume and then restore it.
The problem you describe can be solved quickly and safely by booting into the recovery partition ( or an attached install volume ), wiping the affected volume, reinstalling the OS onto the machine and then restoring your user config, apps and files from the backup. It is a trivial effort.
Dear Apple, just be completely honest (Score:1)
iBook? iMac? Nah.
The new machines need to be branded iBrick.
I saw this coming miles away with M1. (Score:1, Informative)
Seems like Apple is no longer intent on keeping third-party MacOS backup solutions in business much longer. Everyone *must* use Apple's Time Machine, no exceptions.
Good luck also with recovery of said data if you don't have a backup.
Yikes... I knew this was coming. The move away from general-purpose CPUs means a gradual lock-down of the Mac. I'm starting to wonder if Apple really did plan to make the Mac App Store be the only place you could download software for your Mac... Jeez...
I'm thanking my lucky sta
Re: I saw this coming miles away with M1. (Score:2)
I'm starting to wonder if Apple really did plan to make the Mac App Store be the only place you could download software for your Mac... Jeez...
After this, all of the building blocks are there. The next step is preventing apps not signed by apple from running at all unless the user enables an obscured setting that is preceded by multiple warnings that your life will be ruined if you enable it.
Re:I saw this coming miles away with M1. (Score:5, Interesting)
I know it’s Slashdot but please RTFA. An arbitrary backup solution is not at rick.
The only future limitation Apple is introducing is that you cannot backup your system volume such that the backup is a bootable system volume. The obvious reason is that Apple doesn’t want it to be possible to replace your system files with potentially compromised files.
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There was a jailbreak some time ago where you would restore a backup with symbolic links replaced pointing to the jailbroken system files. This method could also have been used to do a "evil maid" attack on your system and install malware. This might be one of the reasons Apple is closing the OS restore loophole.
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Right, even if it's for the described reason, it's not for your benefit. It's for Apple's.
This is where people are supposed to realize that if the machine is designed for the manufacturer's benefit, it's not yours. It's theirs.
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Apple Systems are what everyone thought Microsoft Windows would become.
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The move away from general-purpose CPUs means a gradual lock-down of the Mac.
Since when is an ARM not a general purpose CPU?
Long time Thinkpad Mint user being forced to Mac (Score:2)
Well I think I'm going to ask some Mac users here for some advice then. I am a long time Thinkpad with Linux Mint user to do my work. I'm starting a new job in which I'm to be supplied the latest Mac and I wouldn't have a clue what best practises I should use. Any other Mint/Mac users out there that could offer advice?
Frankly Mac is not my first choice, however I see that there is probably a learning opportunity for me. My wife has a Mac and just the keyboard problems alone turn me off (I use a razer bla
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This demonstrates the Linux on the Desktop problem really well. Linux advocates simply can't understand why Windows users wouldn't just move to Linux, you're only moving because you're being forced to move, not because it offers you value over what you use currently and ultimately it's just something different with maybe less than what you have now.
Can I get neovim?
Seriously? You couldn't manage to just Google that? But yes, install the 'brew' package manager then brew install neovim
What about linux packages
macOS != Linux so no, Linux packages won
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macOS != Linux so no, Linux packages won't run on macOS just like macOS packages won't run on Linux.
That is nonsense. And if you mean with package a command line program: it is nonsense both ways.
You are an idiot.
You are really an idiot: https://www.docker.com/blog/ge... [docker.com]
Re:Long time Thinkpad Mint user being forced to Ma (Score:4, Informative)
Install the Homebrew package manager and use the terminal and you'll feel right at home. A ton of Linux software is ported to macOS and available on Homebrew.
My recommendation is this: learn the hotkeys, the use of gestures (laptop or the Apple mouse), and all the functionality of Finder. Those primary functions of the function buttons are amazing. The learning curve is not steep and you'll find that your workflow will become much more efficient once you learn the system and take advantage of what it has to offer. Compared to Gnome and Windows, it will take you less clicks/button punches/mouse movement to get the same things done.
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Any particular hotkeys that you think are useful?
Re: Long time Thinkpad Mint user being forced to M (Score:2)
Those function keys are particularly useful. Command-spacebar to bring up spotlight, which you can use to quickly open any application or file. Others will depend on your use case. For example, command-k brings up the connect to server box.
One of my favorite macOS features is the help drop down that appears on every application. If you are using an application that has a lot of menus and you are unfamiliar with it, you can type something like edit and it will show you where it is nested in the menu. The li
Re:Long time Thinkpad Mint user being forced to Ma (Score:5, Informative)
Here's some thoughts from a "Mac for devops" perspective:
- docker, vagrant, vmware, etc are all natively supported by their vendors
- simple editors like vim, Atom, VSC, etc are also natively supported
- bash, zsh, python are there for you as well, out of the box - if you're willing to live with particular python version supplied
Here's what you'll likely want to make your life easier: brew [brew.sh] - for easy CLI installation of ports pretty much everything you get via apt. With version pinning, easy upgrades and such.
Use it to install anything from specific python or ruby versions to aws cli, gcloud/gutil and (probably/likely) azure equivalents as well.
As much as I dislike the general direction Apple is going with their MBPs, they're still quite usable for development and devops stuff.
I am just less and less certain that I will be buying another MBP for work, I may just go the Mint route.
Good luck and try to have some fun while poking at a new-to-you OS.
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Thanks to you and Razorsharp, I will check out brew and the hotkeys.
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Also consider just compiling the stuff yourself, if you don’t need a bunch of stuff. You might need to first install some of the auto tools, but they build without issue on the Mac (even on my M1 Mac, with the terminal in x86 mode.
If you have an Intel Mac, you can even put Mint on it if you wish. rEFInd is a good boot manager that installs pretty easily, although you’ll temporarily need to disable the system’s protected mode to install it. I’ve got Mint triple booting with Mojave and
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Thanks 93 Escort Wagon, that sounds like a pretty interesting option. I'm considering if I could replace the Mac UI with gnome as my preferred UI, I'm not sure what SOE I'm likely to find when I receive it. Frankly I'd be happy with a thinkpad -1 generation with Mint on it, but if they're going to give me a brand new Mac I'll give it a go.
One of the biggest things for me is the Linux select/paste paradigm that means I don't have to take my hand of the mouse, stuff like that missing is roadblocks to my pr
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> One of the biggest things for me is the Linux select/paste paradigm that means I don't have to take my hand of the mouse, stuff like that missing is roadblocks to my productivity so I want to try to hit the ground running
--The big thing is realizing the CMD key takes the place of Ctrl for most of your keyboard shortcuts. So in Linux Chrome/Firefox you hit Ctrl+L to get to the address bar, in OSX it's CMD+L. Copy/Paste is CMD+C / CMD+V. And you can't use Alt+F to get to the File menu.
--Also, get a 3-bu
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I'm considering if I could replace the Mac UI with gnome as my preferred UI
And why would anyone want to do that? Seriously?
One of the biggest things for me is the Linux select/paste paradigm that means I don't have to take my hand of the mouse, stuff like that missing is roadblocks to my productivity so I want to try to hit the ground running. ... has nothing to do with your misunderstandings about MacOS.
Works in every X11 app
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I'm considering if I could replace the Mac UI with gnome as my preferred UI
And why would anyone want to do that? Seriously?
Because I choose it and it has served me well. It doesn't get in my way. Workspaces are easy. I can modify it easily, it supports ambidextrous mouses and the applications I use. My preferred hardware, Lenovo T series, is well supported.
One of the biggest things for me is the Linux select/paste paradigm that means I don't have to take my hand of the mouse, stuff like that missing is roadblocks to my productivity so I want to try to hit the ground running.
Works in every X11 app ... has nothing to do with your misunderstandings about MacOS.
I've never used MacOS so how would I understand it?
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Hotkeys are in general the same as on windows.
Only that on windows you use ctrl and on Macs you use Command.
Of course there are exceptions as the Finder's Command-K for connecting to a server.
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Well the terminal is pretty much the same as on linux. The odd thing is applications are folders with various fies inside which makes applications self contained, there is the Library which has a folder called application support. It's quite linux like once you are not looking at the gui.
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--My advice would be to install Macports and Brew so you can get ~95% of the functionality that you'd get from Linux. I only have experience with 10.11 El Capitan, 10.13 High Sierra and 10.14 Mojave - but the best thing I did was buy an El Capitan for Dummies book, because the only Apple experience I had before that was with Apple ][e. The Dummies book provides a pretty good education on the capabilities of modern Mac OS. Once I found out there were virtual desktops I was all good with OSX; and running Vir
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You seem not to be a "low level guy" when you do not grasp the difference between booting from an external USB device or SD card versus booting from an incremental back up (Time Machine) which might have the boot loader / kernel or other system files corrupted or compromised.
Docker: download and install it.
Neovim, no idea. The "standard installer" for non Apple software on Macs is homebrew "https://brew.sh"
You can basically install every Linux and BSD software on your Mac with homebrew.
I'm not, I'll be ship
One more small step (Score:2, Insightful)
This is just one more small step in Apple's relentless campaign to force customers to buy only their proprietary stuff and to prevent anyone else in the electronics ecosystem from making a cent on their hardware and software. This is just one of the reasons I continue to be pleased that I abandoned their products many years ago. If you want the freedom to choose the person who will repair your equipment when it breaks, or add independently-developed software, or buy hardware accessories that don't have a
Re:One more small step (Score:4, Insightful)
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locked down and overpriced (Score:2, Insightful)
Who wants over-priced and locked down hardware?
Re: (Score:2)
Plenty of people, apparently, just look how many people buy iphones.
The walls are being built. (Score:2, Insightful)
Pretty soon, the Mac will be just another iDevice.
Sad... seeing what Apple could have become...
Suuure... (Score:2)
right up until some 12-year-old in Lower Slobovia figures out a way to crack Apple's latest s00p3r 31337 abortion.
not a fan, but Apple already provides backup (Score:1)
I don't really get the point.
I deploy Mac's at work, with timemachine, for years. It works perfectly. You can restore easily. It still works on M1.
Why the hell complain that another software vendor, selling unneeded services, will face issues ?
On that one, Apple has been ahead of everyone else for years. (and I hate to admit it )
If you're sold to Apple, why the hell not use what Apple gives you.