D. Where to Go From Here
If read in a comfortable chair with good lighting, this book can be the foundation of a
sturdy MacOSX education. But particularly when it comes to mastering the Unix side of
this operating system, years of study may await you still.
D.1. Web Sites
The Web is the salvation of the MacOSX fan, especially considering the information
vacuum that marked MacOS X's early days. The Internet was the only place where
people could find out what the heck was going on with their beloved Macs. Here are the
most notable Web sites for learning the finer points of MacOS X.
D.1.1. MacOSX
• www.macosxhints.com. A gold mine of tips, tricks, and hints.
• www.macintouch.com. An excellent daily dose of reporting about Mac questions,
problems, and news.
• www.osxfaq.com. Unix tips and techniques, frequently asked questions, and links
to useful sites.
• www.resexcellence.com. A rich source of information on the underpinnings of
Mac OS X, with a focus on changing them.
• www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com. Massive databases that track,
and provide links to, all the latest software for MacOS X.
• www.apple.com/developer. Even if you aren't a developer, joining the Developer
Connection (Apple's programmers' club) gets you an email newsletter and access
to the discussion boards, which are a great place for hearing Mac news first—all
for free. (Pay $500 a year to become a Select member, and you get CDs mailed to
you containing upcoming versions of MacOS X.)
• www.macobserver.com. A good source for news and commentary about the Mac
and related products.
• www.macworld.com. The discussion boards are an ideal place to find solutions for
problems. When a bug pops up, the posts here are a great place to look for fixes.
• www.macfixit.com. The ultimate Mac troubleshooting Web site, complete with a
hotbed of MacOSX discussion.
• www.macdevcenter.com. O'Reilly's own Mac site. Full of tutorials, news, and
interesting weblogs (techie diaries).
• www.geekculture.com. A hilarious satire site, dedicated to lampooning our tech
addiction—especially Apple tech. Perhaps best known for the David Pogue's Head
icon for MacOSX (http://geekculture.com/download/davidpogue.html
).
Or perhaps not.
D.1.2. MacOS X–Style Unix Lessons and Reference
• www.westwind.com/reference/OS-X/commandline. A command reference of cd,
ls, rm, and all the other commands you can use in Terminal or the console.
• www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix. A convenient, free Web-based course in
Unix for beginners.
Tip: Typing unix for beginners into a search page like Google.com nets dozens of superb
help, tutorial, and reference Web sites. If possible, stick to those that feature the bash
shell; that way, everything you learn online should be perfectly applicable to navigating
Mac OSX via Terminal.
. Mac OS X. )
• www.macobserver.com. A good source for news and commentary about the Mac
and related products.
• www.macworld.com. The discussion boards. (http://geekculture.com/download/davidpogue.html
).
Or perhaps not.
D. 1.2. Mac OS X Style Unix Lessons and Reference
• www.westwind.com/reference /OS- X/ commandline. A