[OS X TeX] Just Curious...

[jhgowen]

> I am running OS10.6.8 on a 2009 15" powerbook.  I have not updated because I have some PPC programs (like appleworks and the Adobe CS-2) that I still use.  Plus I do scientific programming and am unhappy that Mac does not make it easy to use current Unix programs for licensing reasons.

I’m using all sorts of Unix programs via MacPorts. Not sure what programs you can’t use. If you mean new GPL terms and conditions, isn’t that the open source folks being difficult, not Apple? 

> 
> However, I think it is time for a new computer and probably update to yosemite.  My computer is falling apart: one memory slot does not work, I cannot write DVDs (although I can write CDs), the fi;rewire connection no longer works.

I had an Ti Powerbook like that. It got dropped out of a bag (while running for a bus) onto a stone pavement in Cambridge. I grabbed the bits, caught the bus, sat down at the lab, put the parts back together, pressed go, and it booted! By the end, the whole case was in several loose pieces, with dents and sharp edges,  but it all still worked. 

>  An update in OS seems necessary because Apple is not providing security fixes for things like the bash problem, and my v5 safari cannot be updated and Web sites complain that it is not modern.  (I have been quite critical of MS for linking Explorer to an OS, now I find Apple is doing the same thing.)

Update bash to a secure version using Macports, tell the OS to use the Macports version, not the system version. I couldn’t tell you if that works on an old version of OS X though.  And use Firefox or Chrome instead of Safari. Apple is not doing the same thing as MS with IE. It is trivial to avoid using Safari, if you prefer something else. 

> 
> One concern I have about yosemite is that I understand that Apple data mines computers.

Where did you get that idea?  As in the case of iPhone text messages, Apple is making a public point of putting its customers' privacy first. 

>  I just got my first smart phone (android), and I am concerned that the battery drains so fast with very little usage.

Should have got an iPhone then. ;-) I get 1-2 days battery life out of my iPhone 6. 

>  I a told there are "app killers" for phones.

Well, there might be for Android, as they have something like 99% of the malware out there, but not for iPhones. AFAIK. 

>  If I am correct about yosemite, can one set up some kind of a firewall to protect against Apple?

There is a firewall in OS X, just go into System Prefs and turn it on. 





James Owen
jhgowen at mac.com


------------------------


> 
> Arthur Snoke
> snoke at vt.edu
> 
> 
>>> Howdy,
>>> 
>>> I'm curious what versions of OS X folks are using. I know there are some folks stuck at 10.5 on PPC systems but what else are folks using?
>>> 
>>> Please don't read anything into this request; just my curiosity.
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
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