Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
osxc.github.io
Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
1–10 of 45 posts
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#2I think the project is not largely usable for now, I just want some feedback from HN to get it usable for everyone (and not just for me).
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#3I'm struggling to see how this is better than a simple bootstrapping script. Every feature you list can be accomplished in very few lines of bash:
https://github.com/taylorlapeyre/.files/blob/master/osx/boot...
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#4Another project that uses the same tools (Ansible/Homebrew) to accomplish the same/similar goals:
https://github.com/32degrees/battleschool
If you're going to do this on a wider scale (multiple machines, managed in an organization), the best tools right now are AutoPKG and Munki:
https://github.com/autopkg/autopkg http://code.google.com/p/munki/
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#5I'm struggling to see how this is better than a simple bootstrapping script. Every feature you list can be accomplished in very few lines of bash: https://github.com/taylorlapeyre/.files/blob/master/osx/boot...
because writing yaml is way easier than writing a bash script.
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#6For some reason I'd never seen Homebrew Cask before, which looks very interesting! Does anyone have experiences with Cask to share?
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#7I'm struggling to see how this is better than a simple bootstrapping script. Every feature you list can be accomplished in very few lines of bash: https://github.com/taylorlapeyre/.files/blob/master/osx/boot...
because writing yaml is way easier than writing a bash script.
This yaml approach requires me to know a lot more about existing software than the bash script does. I will need to:
- Read up on the documentation for osxc or battle school
- Look at other configuration files to get a feel for what mine needs to look like.
- Learn about the differences between playbooks or recepies or what have you.
- Download some proprietary software that I will likely never use again.
This is all mental overhead to me.
In comparison, how do you create your own bash script? You already know how to do most of it. If not, just look at the script above. It doesn't require a genius to understand a simple bash function. This approach will take you at most, 5 minutes.
Or maybe I'm just not seeing some huge advantage of these large boxen-esque frameworks for installing some programs.
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
because writing yaml is way easier than writing a bash script.
This yaml approach requires me to know a lot more about existing software than the bash script does. I will need to: - Read up on the documentation for osxc or battle school - Look at other configuration files to get a feel for what mine needs to look like. - Learn about the differences between playbooks or recepies or what have you. - Download some proprietary software that I will likely never use again. This is all…
I think you've hit the nail right on the head. The added complexity of these tools, created ostensibly to simplify configuration, simply cannot accomplish what they set out to do by trading in one language for another.
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#9For some reason I'd never seen Homebrew Cask before, which looks very interesting! Does anyone have experiences with Cask to share?
Homebrew Cask is awesome!
A couple of weeks ago I decided to backup my hard drive, reformat it and reinstall OS X Mavericks to get rid of the cruft that seems to have built up in 4 years, updating from every OS since Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
I made halfhearted attempts to organize my dotfiles and configuration in the past, like the cool kids do on Github. That’s when I learned about Homebrew Cask (http://caskroom.io) which makes it super easy to install the GUI apps I install on whatever Mac I’m using—iTerm, Transmission, Vagrant, Virtual Box, etc.
And now I have them in a Brewfile (http://robots.thoughtbot.com/brewfile-a-gemfile-but-for-home...) under version control in case I need to install the whole shebang on another Mac.
And now brew update && brew upgrade updates everything.
Re: Osxc – Simple configuration tool for OS X
#10I'm struggling to see how this is better than a simple bootstrapping script. Every feature you list can be accomplished in very few lines of bash: https://github.com/taylorlapeyre/.files/blob/master/osx/boot...
I understand what you're saying. I just started this a few days ago and wanted to share it with the community. For now, this is more: how I setup my computer than how everyone should do it. But I found that even if a simple bash script would do the same, the ansible roles gives me the possibility to have reusable components. (my boot.sh is terrible, I know, I have to find something else ...)