[OS X TeX] Lost in Mac space

[cfrees at imapmail.org]

On Sat 13th Dec, 2008 at 14:12, Alain Schremmer seems to have written:

>
> On Dec 13, 2008, at 12:26 PM, Joseph C. Slater PE, PhD wrote:
>
>> 
>> On Dec 13, 2008, at 12:18 PM, Alain Schremmer wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> On Dec 13, 2008, at 11:21 AM, David Derbes wrote:
>>> 
>>>> It's Unix. Nothing about Mac OS X that I know about. The version I know 
>>>> best is from 1993, and so absent time travel cannot include anything 
>>>> about Mac OS X. There is a way more expensive recent version that might 
>>>> include something, but I'd buy a cheap copy from abebooks (just bought 
>>>> one to make up for the one a friend stole, and yes, he's still a friend) 
>>>> for well under ten USD.
>>> 
>>> Whenever I think of fiddling with the terminal—after all that is the Mac 
>>> way, the thing that brings me to a halt is the fear that it is easy 
>>> inadvertently to wipe out one's disk or to create similar havoc. So, it is 
>>> easy to procrastinate and/or turn to the list. Which it is in any case.
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> Unlikely unless you enter your administrator password to execute the 
>> command.
>
> For real?
>
>> Further, if you "back up now" using Time machine before doing anything, you 
>> can always rewind to that spot.
>> 
>> The worst you can do, without entering a password at the command line, is 
>> wipe out your personal directory. However, if you use Time Machine, that is 
>> easily restored.
>
> Yes, but I am still on Tiger and plan on staying so until the next feline 
> comes around: I already got into trouble with TeXLive 2008 (the "openout_any 
> =" thing) but thanks to the TeX Distribution switcher, just went back to 
> gwTeX and normality.

But you back up, right? Backups existed long before Leopard. Indeed,
even if I was on Leopard - which I'm not - I would not trust solely to
TM backups given what I've read of others' experiences with it. I use
Carbon Copy Cloner although there are other options and CCC does crash
on me from time to time. Something where you can automate backup is
crucial I think. All you need is an external drive with (for PPC and
preferably for intel,  too) a firewire port.

- cfr

>
> Grateful regards
> --schremmer