Posts Tagged “How-To”

After fixing the OS X Terminal’s keyboard shortcuts, I wanted to conquer the annoying functionality that keeps Terminal open after the last terminal tab is closed. I normally exit a shell by typing the command “exit”. However, you can also exit a shell by closing the Terminal tab using Cocoa methods (red close button, CMD+w). Between these two methods, things happen in a different order. (Using “exit” causes the user to logout and exit the shell, but the actual tab or window stays open until the processes end. On the other hand, using one of the window closing methods closes the window before the user logout and the processes end).

The general approach is to first watch for the EXIT signal to be sent to a shell (this happens regardless which way the Terminal is closed), then do some handling to determine if the user is exiting the last Terminal tab. However, this got rather cumbersome because of the behavior outlined above. (Sometimes when the final EXIT signal is caught there is still a tab open, other times there is no tab open when the final EXIT signal is caught). So anyway, this is how I did it.

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The OSX Terminal.app has come a long way. I had been using iTerm exclusively ever since I started using the Mac, but recently switched over to using the default Terminal.

I have become reliant on using Home and End to move to the beginning or end of the line at the command line. The behavior is different on the OSX Terminal though, they scroll to the top and end of the buffer. (Actually, I would settle for being able to use CMD+← and  CMD+→ like you would for Cocoa apps if that worked, but it doesn’t). Actually, the shortcuts that move to teh beginning and end of a line in the Terminal are CTRL+A and CTRL+E

Additionally, the PageUp and PageDown keys navigate through the buffer by default which is rather annoying if you are trying to edit config files (such as with Nano) and want to move through the file quicker. (The default to do a normal PgUp and PgDn is Shift+PgUp and Shift+PgDn).
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New Appliances

Well, I recently purchased a new Maytag Neptune washer and dryer. I had used Neptune front-loading washers when I was in school, and I thought they were pretty nice. Now that I have my own house, and I am a bit energy conscious (I have to keep all my computers running while still keeping the utility bill low), I thought that a nice washer and dryer that I could stuff clothes into, and use less water at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »

This question gets asked a lot, especially since people are having non-functioning keyboards in Linux Bootloaders (Windows too). If you make room on your Intel Mac to boot Windows and Linux, most distros will now detect windows and add an entry to grub and/or lilo, and install the bootloader to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of your disk. This is ok on most PCs, as there is not normally any other way to choose which OS you want when booting up. However, most Mactel multibooters are using rEFIt to select the OS, and there is no need to use grub for anything but Linux (and hopefully, a EFI native bootloader will be available someday to replace that).

The way to get around this annoyance is to install your Linux bootloader to the root partition (or your /boot partition if you have one), and leave the normal Windows bootloader in the MBR. I use Ubuntu and Grub, and will focus there, but these general instructions should work for any system.

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Ok, since ATI’s new drivers have a lot of weird things preventing install on Gutsy in 64 bit, I am posting this here as help for those that want to try it out.

P.S. Compiz works without XGL!

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I know this is kinda trendy, but I had an old Clamshell iBook that ended up just sitting around for a very long time, so I decided to use it to make my own digital picture frame. Read the rest of this entry »