[Tutor] Python suddenly finding ".DS_Store" files in folder

[Alan Gauld]

Sorry, this got sent prematurely...

> > OS X 10.3.3 includes two (!) versions of X, one in /usr/X11/bin
etc.
> where it belongs, the other in
> /Appplications/Utilities/X11/Content/MacOS/X11
>
> I only have OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) but aso have 2 X installs, one the
> XFree86 port for Mac and the other the official Apple beta.
>
> I assume they have shipped the same on Panther(10.3)
>
> is for beginners, it seems to be one ugly beast once you lift off
> the GUI layer.

I don't think it's that ugly. Have you tried any of the more advanced
books which explain the innards (and you do have David Pogue's
invaluable "Missing Manual" don't you?) I found "MacOS X Hacks"
a good source of explanation and tips for non GUI udsers.

And Mac OS X Unleashed was also useful for getting "under the hood".

> I'm still not sure what a "resource fork" is and why I'm supposed to
> need one on a Unix machine...

The resource fork is where all the nib files and stuff are kept,
including the GUI language files etc. Keeping them out of the binary
has the advantage that you can go in and tweak them without having
access to the source code!

> What makes you think it would be any different? listdir will still
> show hidden files there too, its not the OS its the way the
> function is defined to work.
> >
> But KDE doesn't spread hidden files all over the place like rabbit
> droppings, as far as I can tell.

Not quite so many I agree, but there are still a lot of rc files
scattered about my Linux box, and the /etc heirarchy is a mess
and even /tmp gets busy... But I agree these tend to be in one
place whereas Apple has distributed them.

The Apple approach does have the advantage that moving part of a
folder heirarchy from one machine to another brings all the settings
files etc with it, so it appears on the new machine exactly as it
did on the old. Mac Os is the only OS I've ever worked with that
can manage that trick. And remember, an important aspect of
Mac OS is that it is really assumed that you will be working
in the GUI and only using the terminal for "down n dirty" stuff.
Up until OS X you didn't even have the option!

I've used Linux since 1993 and its come a long way and its still
my preferred server environmemnt but as a general user desktop I
have to say MacOs beats it hands down IMHO. I haven't tried
using MacOS as a server but I suspect all the stuff that makes
it cool on the desktop; would be irrelevant in a server and
just get in the way...

Alan G.