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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
Long time Windows developer gets a Mac
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<blockquote data-quote="walkerj" data-source="post: 596209" data-attributes="member: 9385"><p>Simpler answer: Well, not really, you're running not as 'root', but as an administrator who requires that you authenticate to do things to your system. You are not actually the 'root guy', but more to the point the guy who has the administrative authority to do things on your system. </p><p></p><p>Really you have to understand that you are the 'highest authority' on your system, and thus you kind of need to know what's going on and act accordingly. On a Mac (unless you have explicitly enabled this) while this is a UNIX type of system with UNIX type permissions there is no real 'root' that can do wholesale damage to your machine. By default this 'root' authority is not enabled, nor should it be. </p><p></p><p>If you want to be ultimately 'safe' (which nobody ever is) you would create an 'account' which is just a regular user with no administrative capabilities and log in as your other account which has said administrative abilities. </p><p></p><p>In the practical sense, you're probably fine having the ability to allow things that deem they need administrative access (i.e. requesting your admin password) do the things they need to do without that extra 'layer', so to speak.</p><p></p><p>It's kind of hard to explain, especially at this late hour for me. I could probably provide a better explanation later and someone else could probably provide a better one as well, but for now, let's just say that if anything asks you for your admin password it's most likely doing something that you want it to do to your system, as opposed to what might happen under the default Windows world of not bothering to ask you for any password at all.</p><p></p><p>I left the Windows world awhile ago with windows XP, and have no knowledge of Vista, so this advice may be suspect. But in the Mac world, you're dealing with UNIX. Things can do damage, but chances are they won't be and you'll be okay letting them do whatever they need to install themselves on your lovely machine. It's kind of the same thing as using 'sudo' to do things. You need to allow it to do them, but it will ask first. I'm probably not making that much sense.</p><p></p><p>BTW, I read your blog. It pretty much is the same as my own experiences switching to this platform two years ago myself. I have a number of really long, detailed posts regarding exactly how and why I am typing this from a Macbook today. And regardless of what any of my future employers might issue to me, I'm not going to be buying any Windows machines for my own personal use. Or business.</p><p></p><p>But then this is a Mac forum. You should kind of expect that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="walkerj, post: 596209, member: 9385"] Simpler answer: Well, not really, you're running not as 'root', but as an administrator who requires that you authenticate to do things to your system. You are not actually the 'root guy', but more to the point the guy who has the administrative authority to do things on your system. Really you have to understand that you are the 'highest authority' on your system, and thus you kind of need to know what's going on and act accordingly. On a Mac (unless you have explicitly enabled this) while this is a UNIX type of system with UNIX type permissions there is no real 'root' that can do wholesale damage to your machine. By default this 'root' authority is not enabled, nor should it be. If you want to be ultimately 'safe' (which nobody ever is) you would create an 'account' which is just a regular user with no administrative capabilities and log in as your other account which has said administrative abilities. In the practical sense, you're probably fine having the ability to allow things that deem they need administrative access (i.e. requesting your admin password) do the things they need to do without that extra 'layer', so to speak. It's kind of hard to explain, especially at this late hour for me. I could probably provide a better explanation later and someone else could probably provide a better one as well, but for now, let's just say that if anything asks you for your admin password it's most likely doing something that you want it to do to your system, as opposed to what might happen under the default Windows world of not bothering to ask you for any password at all. I left the Windows world awhile ago with windows XP, and have no knowledge of Vista, so this advice may be suspect. But in the Mac world, you're dealing with UNIX. Things can do damage, but chances are they won't be and you'll be okay letting them do whatever they need to install themselves on your lovely machine. It's kind of the same thing as using 'sudo' to do things. You need to allow it to do them, but it will ask first. I'm probably not making that much sense. BTW, I read your blog. It pretty much is the same as my own experiences switching to this platform two years ago myself. I have a number of really long, detailed posts regarding exactly how and why I am typing this from a Macbook today. And regardless of what any of my future employers might issue to me, I'm not going to be buying any Windows machines for my own personal use. Or business. But then this is a Mac forum. You should kind of expect that. [/QUOTE]
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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
Long time Windows developer gets a Mac
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