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macOS Internals

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Re: macOS Internals

#21

Post by Kwpolska »

There are also some amusing writings not included here about modern macOS changing things in a way Siracusa dislikes. For example, mandatory file extensions (written in 2001, when the Internet was a thing and file extensions were required for all file exchanges) [0] or the Spatial Finder saga [1] about missing an antiquated way to make a mess on your screen and pretend to be managing folders.

[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2001/10/macosx-10-1/12/

[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2003/04/finder/#prev-article...

Re: macOS Internals

#23

Post by selestify »

dlivingston wrote: post #17
ElFitz wrote: post #14

It’s funny how I used to think that operating systems, databases, and cloud systems, as these kind of arcane things that were somehow apart from the rest of software. I could not begin to grasp how they could deal with running programs, access control, or any of these things that once seemed so foreign and mysterious to me. And realising that it’s actually just software, that there’s no black magic to it, just lower-…

It's turtles all the way down. Layers of abstraction stacked on layers of abstraction.

Until you get to the physics of transistors and logic gates :)

Though I suppose in a sense, even subatomic particles are abstractions over quarks. It’s just that those are no longer abstractions we control.

Re: macOS Internals

#24

Post by alin23 » 

    The window server is "lightweight" in that it does no screen drawing itself. It is, to use Apple's term, "drawing model agnostic."
WindowServer is such a behemoth nowadays, it took me ages to reverse engineer how to make rcmd (https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd) control Stage Manager.

It’s interesting to see it described as lightweight. I guess every lightweight solution becomes heavy and complex with enough usage.

Re: macOS Internals

#25

Post by robertlagrant »

vaughan wrote: post #4

History is such a great way to learn anything. It’s interesting - like a mystery revealed, but also provides the why - why things are the way they are. I was looking into accounting the other day, and you can go back to the first document that mentioned credit and debit and introduced modern accounting. There are so many topics like this that seem confusing and arbitrary but it all began extremely simply and pragmati…

Agreed. This is why often reading a Wikipedia page is the worst way to learn something. The best way is to get a teacher to tell you the relevant history leading up to the thing, and it makes much more sense.

Re: macOS Internals

#26

Post by shinycode »

alin23 wrote: post #24

The window server is "lightweight" in that it does no screen drawing itself. It is, to use Apple's term, "drawing model agnostic." WindowServer is such a behemoth nowadays, it took me ages to reverse engineer how to make rcmd ( https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd ) control Stage Manager. It’s interesting to see it described as lightweight . I guess every lightweight solution becomes heavy and complex with enough usage.

Rcmd is the best app for window management productivity I found in years. Thank you so much !!

Re: macOS Internals

#27

Post by apples_oranges »

ElFitz wrote: post #14

It’s funny how I used to think that operating systems, databases, and cloud systems, as these kind of arcane things that were somehow apart from the rest of software. I could not begin to grasp how they could deal with running programs, access control, or any of these things that once seemed so foreign and mysterious to me. And realising that it’s actually just software, that there’s no black magic to it, just lower-…

Yeah, it's all a bunch of programs doing their thing. One draws a GUI, another talks to the network adapter, and so forth.. And when you click a launcher icon, a loader program is started that (more or less) copies a program into RAM and when all is set up, it tells the OS (and the hardware) to run that, too.

Re: macOS Internals

#28

Post by alin23 »

shinycode wrote: post #26
alin23 wrote: post #24

The window server is "lightweight" in that it does no screen drawing itself. It is, to use Apple's term, "drawing model agnostic." WindowServer is such a behemoth nowadays, it took me ages to reverse engineer how to make rcmd ( https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd ) control Stage Manager. It’s interesting to see it described as lightweight . I guess every lightweight solution becomes heavy and complex with enough usage.

Rcmd is the best app for window management productivity I found in years. Thank you so much !!

Thank you! Happy to hear it has become so useful ^_^

Re: macOS Internals

#30

Post by latexr »

nikodunk wrote: post #2

It's impressive how so many years after he left, the legendary articles by John Siracusa are still having an impact.

As does his old podcast, Hypercritical. It finished almost a decade ago, yet even the early episodes continue to have interesting insights.

https://hypercritical.fireside.fm/

If you’re interested but don’t know where to start, “The Bridges of Siracusa County” is a classic.

https://hypercritical.fireside.fm/15

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