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MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

macrelix.org

71–80 of 83 posts

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#72

Back in the day, the Aztec C development environment provided a "shell" experience for development. Essentially, you coded in vi, you used make, had the basic shell commands (notably ls, cat, mv, cp). I can't speak to it much deeper than that. I used it for some time, but I had no Unix experience, so I can't say what was missing. I'm sure, today, if I tried to work on it like a would a normal Unix environment, even a…

You don't happen to have access to Aztec C for the classic 68k? I (and others) have been trying to track down a copy for some time. There appears to be one on Macintosh garden, but that is for ms-dos.

Honestly I probably got rid of my final box of ancient Mac 3.5" floppies in my last move 5 years ago.

Can't say I actually had Aztec C at the time, but it wouldn't have surprised me one way or the other.

Short answer, no I no longer have access to it any longer.

I used to run it on my basement upgraded, 512K Mac with 2 400K drives. Spent real money on it. I think it was $499 at the time. Maybe less, it was certainly no Turbo Pascal that's for sure.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#73
post #62

Why does it need an internet connection?

MacRelix has an `upgrade` command that will check for and fetch a new version of itself. The installer is merely a stripped-down, single-file build of MacRelix with just enough tools to run the installer script, including `upgrade`.

I do wish there was a periodic side-loadable “full” release since I usually run my old Macs with no network connection at all.

I didn’t feel like setting up open WiFi or WEP WiFi (same thing amirite) for my PowerBook so to install it I had my ThinkPad running internet connection sharing, connected through two patch cables and an old PowerConnect switch since I couldn’t find a crossover cable.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#74
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mbin file can be opened with StuffIt Expander, it contains the installer application.

Stuffit extract the installer but it doesn't do anything, I don't know what I'm missing.

I was also using Stuffit (5.5) originally, but I just gave it a try with good ol' standalone MacBinaryⅢ and that worked too. It should go like this: https://imgur.com/a/YKd4Zvs (first three screenshots)

Once it says Done you can trash the installer. There will be a new folder in the same location as the installer, and within that folder you can run `MacRelix`.

The last two screenshots are me using the `sbin/upgrade` script from within the first Relix flavor to fetch a second Relix flavor.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#75
post #74
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stuffit extract the installer but it doesn't do anything, I don't know what I'm missing.

I was also using Stuffit (5.5) originally, but I just gave it a try with good ol' standalone MacBinaryⅢ and that worked too. It should go like this: https://imgur.com/a/YKd4Zvs (first three screenshots) Once it says Done you can trash the installer. There will be a new folder in the same location as the installer, and within that folder you can run `MacRelix`. The last two screenshots are me using the `sbin/upgrade`…

Thank you. I was finally able to install it, I think my setup is to blame for all the issues. I think I wasn't able to open the .mbin because I downloaded it on Linux before moving it to the emulator, and it missed some information in the process. Downloaded it inside the emulator using iCab, and after several tries (probably because networking on my emulator doesn't work properly) was able to open it on StuffIt 5 and decompress the .gz during the installation.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, when I was younger and a neophyte, I thought it was idiotic that Mac OS X had a command line. Now that I’ve switched to Mac and that I’ve learned how to use it, I wouldn’t move to a platform without strong Unix roots. So what I guess I’m saying is I wouldn’t use Windows.

wsl with directory tree integration is also good, or cmd.exe with native gnu tools and additional binaries.

It sounds so ... clumsy.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#77
post #45
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from the fun of having a CLI on a Mac, I also use it to dump the ROMs from my machines. e: it also comes with Git (among other utilities) which might make it worth it to some people for that alone.

I had forgotten how strange it was to see a terminal in OSX, a huge step sideways, I won't say backwards as it has its uses, but that was also the nasty green screen world I thought we had escaped from...

Yeah, even though I routinely use a mix of CLI and REPL environments, I also don't get the fetish to use computers as I was doing back in 1990 in MS-DOS and Xenix.

One of the appeals of Amiga was to only dive into the Amiga DOS shell if I really needed to.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#78
post #18
post #5

This makes me wonder.. Are there any quirky whimsical or nostalgic but still functional desktop OS out there.. Like the fantasy console PICO-8, but for Desktop applications?

9front, seemingly Plan 9's de-facto successor, is almost surely quirky, often whimsical, at times nostalgic. It might even be functional, depending on how you define that[1]. Is actively developed, has a vibrant community. Puts an interesting spin on how you lay out systems, but doesn't diverge much from the Bell Labs formula. I'd certainly recommend giving it a shot, for the UNIX-inclined. [1] I've daily driven it b…

Plan 9's successor, is Inferno, which folks keep forgeting about.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#79
post #55
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I soon realised that three-button mouse chording isn't doable in this decade, The scroll wheel on any wheelmouse is a button and you can click it as well as spinning it. All wheel mice are also 3-button mice.

Try doing that on a trackpad--but if I wanted to use a mouse, the chording is too cumbersome.

On my work MacBook Air, I installed a FOSS app.

https://github.com/artginzburg/MiddleClick-Sonoma

Works well, but I miss the physical middle button on my Thinkpads.

The chording isn't really cumbersome, just unfamiliar. You get used to it quite quickly with a few tens of minutes of practice.

Re: MacRelix – Unix-like features for classic Mac OS

#80
post #51
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Makes me wonder. What would it take for Mac the tech to have this sort of feel/appeal again? We tend to forget that, but Macs are the last standing members of the Unix workstation family, and quite good ones at that.

This! I've probably said it here before, but Apple won the Unix workstation wars in the most awesome way possible. You can now buy an insanely powerful RISC Unix workstation at the mall! How awesome is that?

NeXT acquiring Apple for less than one Steve Jobs (receiving about $400 million as change) was nothing short of brilliant. They got their great OS, attached it to their own bespoke hardware, focused the product line, and now they pretty much rule the world.
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