Mac Resources

I do most of my work on Macs because I like having a full Unix operating system, I like having well-integrated graphical tools, I like having hardware that's highly integrated with the software, and I like having other people worry about the system administration. The Mac is a great system, but I've also found that there are some programs that make it a lot easier to use:

Initial Setup

• Put the Terminal application into your dock.
• Put the Dock on the right side of the screen (it was designed for use on the right side of the screen and takes up less screen real estate there.)

Recommended Installations

Open Source software via MacPorts

Install these applications in this order

• Download and install the latest version of XCode from http://developer.apple.com/
• MacPorts, a nice port management system for Open Source ports on the Mac.
  1. Install MacPorts
  2. sudo port selfupdate
  3. sudo port install unison
  4. sudo port install py26-matplotlib
  5. sudo port install py26-wxpython

This installs matplotlib for the python in /opt/local/bin/python2.6, so you'll need to type python2.6 to use it. The advantage is that you can update the python by using port update installed but the disadvantage is that you don't get the most up-to-date version of matplotlib.

If you want to cross-compile for Windows, then:

File System Tools

You may find these file systems useful for interacting with others:

• Ext2FS for MacOS
• NTFS-3g for MacOS

Other Free Software

I find these these free software applications useful:

• Adium
• Skim-App, open source tool for editing and annotating PDF files.
• BibDesk, which many peole use to maintain a BibTeX database.

Commercial Software

These commercial applications should be installed:

• Microsoft Office 2008 (Institutional install)
• Apple iWork 09 (for Keynote)
• Apple iLife '09 (for iPhoto with face recognition)
• Cisco VPN Client

Other Installations

You may find these interesting

• EMACS on MacOS: Aquamacs Emacs 21 for MacOS Emacs.app
• iterm (better Terminal)
• TeXniscope
• Enhanced Carbon Emacs (ECE) plugin
• pdfsync
• LinkBack Framework; you want the Keynote plug-in
• SuperDuper!, an easy-to-use backup system for the Mac which makes bootable drives.
• Textmate - some people swear by it, I use EMACS.

See Also

Other places to look for cool Mac stuff:

• Hawk Wings' list of MacOS Plug-ins
• PHP5 for Mac