Re: I'm a Mac engineer ;-(

On 2007-05-20 09:25:09 +0100, "Robert Moir" <robspamtrap@xxxxxxxxx> said:


"Rolly" <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:464fb79d_4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This one's entertaining. Entitled "So frustrating .. <sigh>":

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.telecom.broadband/msg/897366f05bbbabc0

Before I go, may I ask how it is you got "farly [sic] comfortable in the
registry"?
Could I get there in stages, say, by getting comfortable on a pin cushion
first?

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.telecom.broadband/msg/6171f9f39548f866

I'm not sure I personally see much difference between the Windows registry
and hundreds of plist files in OSX.

I ask myself:

(a) What is the likely/possible scope of my idiotic mistakes?
(b) What can go wrong if I do make a mistake?

When I edited the registry in the past, I was gripped by fear.
There was this monolithic file. I knew I could quite possibly
screw up the whole thing and, if I did so, my whole Windows
installation might be in jeopardy:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

I have to say, I don't feel very concerned when editing plist
files. So far I've never had to edit a plist file outside of
a user account (nothing in /Library/Preferences). That in
itself limits the scope of my errors. When I have edited
such a file, I've known my mistakes will likely be limited
to that one file - the scope is narrowed further. And in the
worst case, deleting these file seems doesn't seem to be too
harmful. In my limited experience, default files are usually
regenerated.

Having said all that, I've never had a registry or plist
catastrophe, and I can't confidently predict what would
happen if I did mess it up.

Both are two valid approaches to much the same problem.
Both can be a complete pain in the hoop when they want to be.
Both can be very simple if you know what you want to change and where it is
hiding.

Yes.

R.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Why is the Mac so complicated?
    ... Windows 95 or the registry in 2000. ... Will the Mac OS EVERY catch up? ... Mac users are certainly at no disadvantage by not editing .plist files. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: tool to clean up computer?
    ... > Where's the harm if you back up your registry just in case and I know ... these programs sometimes make mistakes. ... saves you by eliminating genuinely unnecessary entries. ... want to use a regisry cleaner, at least don't allow the program to delete ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: In the Shallow End
    ... this- then you would have to include a registry in your rewrite. ... it is still supported but it encourages developers to get off ... Compare this to OS X where plist files are, well, still pretty cryptic ... Then again, being that pref files are so easy to work with, I jump ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Route changes do not survive reboot.
    ... N 10.154.3.128/255.255.255.224 (32 IPs) SBS2003 ... by replacing the scope in DHCP in S. ... route table on N contained this entry ... I know that the routes are stored in the registry and the table is built at ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.networking)
  • any project example to clean up clsID and classes etc for registry
    ... as a learner, I made many mistakes in developing classlib and com component ... registry of useless entries. ...
    (microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vb)