Try typing //Volumes/ in a browser window (I used OmniWeb, but they all should work). Pretty cool, it brings up the local filesystem so that you can navigate through it.

I don't know how useful it is, but sorta cool.

As an administrative user, you can create a new user account by using the System Preferences: Users section and simply adding a user. Similarly, you can delete a user. The problem is, the deleted users directory doesn't go away, it is just renamed in the /Users directory to "username Deleted". You cannot throw out the Deleted directory using the finder, even as an administrative user. Here is where being able to get to the Unix core is so great.

With administrative power, you are one command away from deleting that unwanted directory. You are also one command away from deleting everything on your system. Here is the command:

sudo rm -rf /Users/"username Deleted"/

If you were to mistype the username and accidently remove your account, there would be no recovering your files. The destructive potential of the rm command is probably one of the main reasons the root account is somewhat hidden (just my opinion).

[Editor's note: You can use a slightly safer variant of the same command by simply adding and "i" to the "-rf" string; the revised command would read sudo rm -rfi /Users/"username Deleted"/ -- this will have "rm" ask you to confirm each file deletion]

Don't fear the command line, it can be a really great thing. But please, use caution anytime you have to use root privilages to rm a file or do anything else. Other than that, learn vi! Enjoy the Unix that your Macintosh is running.

[Editor's note: See the comments for a solution!]

Anyone know how to move a single user's home -- not the entire 'Users' directory? I travel back and forth between two machines and would like to carry my "home" with me on an external hard drive. I tried editing the home directory in NetInfoManager, but it didn't seem to work.

A hierarchical menu will not work for an alias to a folder in a Dock folder if it is created by the contextual menu 'Make alias' command. This must be done [for now] from the command line:

ln -s [path/to/linked/directory] [name of Alias]

-- creating a seamless menu to that aliased folder within a pop-up menu from the dock:)

A related tip: Find the folder you wish to alias in the finder window and drag it onto the terminal window to copy the full path.

I've placed my Apps and Home on the Dock with symbolically linked folders to my Classic Documents and Apps folders (which is much tidier than intermingling and copying over to my OS X native partitions.) One could also create a "Favorites" pop-up in the same way ...

I know credit is due somewhere else, but I can't find the reference anywhere - so I felt compelled to share. Hope this makes your navigation that much better, easier.

I tried to install jEdit on my shiny new OS X v10.0 the other day, and noticed that it failed to install properly. It simply created a folder. So I headed over to Krisko's web page to see what was up -- he did the jEdit port for OS X. There's a not-too-encouraging message on his homepage:

"Looks like Java is pretty much broken under the final version of MacOS X. Lets hope they do something about it soon so jEdit works they way it should."

However, from the comments posted to this original story, there is a solution! 'Mojo' created a package from the latest preview release, and it works perfectly! Download it from his iDisk, linked in the Favorite Apps box on the left edge of the page.

mySQL is a free SQL database program that can work in conjunction with PHP (see PHP hint elsewhere here) to create dynamically generated web sites, such as this one. It's important to me, as I use mySQL and PHP locally to test new elements for this site, and it was getting to be a pain booting back to the Public Beta every time I had to work on something. I tried running the mySQL installer package from the PB, but it failed (not sure why). So I'd been waiting on a new installer package, to make things easy. Last night, I got tired of waiting :-).

I received an email stating that a new binary package was available on the iDisk of 'skribble', so I went and checked it out. Go to www.mac.com, click on the iDisk tab, sign on with your ID, and then enter 'skribble' in the box for "Open Public Folder" section to mount that folder. You'll see the binary for mySQL. I downloaded this and installed it, but couldn't quite get it running - but it may have been user error. It did not install the 'var' directory, where mySQL keeps the databases. You may have better luck than I, so it might be worth a shot.

After a few minutes of mucking around with it (without success), I "rm"ed the mysql directory, and decided to go straight to the source (literally), and grabbed the files from mysql.com to try and build it myself. I was successful, and now have a fully functional PHP 4.04 and mySQL 3.23.36 installation on my OS X machine! Read the rest of the article if you'd like instructions on how to build it yourself -- it's really not that hard!

There's an interesting discussion in this MacNN forum about replacing the "Buy Mac OS X Software" menu item in the new Apple menu with something of your own design.

With some (relatively) simple editing, you can insert your own command to replace the one Apple has provided.

Personally, I haven't missed the Apple menu at all, but I know some people find it essential. Although this is far from the return of the OS 9 Apple Menu, it's interesting if you'd like to know more about customizing your system.

I've been searching the net now since installing OSX Final for a way to use my hosts file in my /etc folder like I do under Linux for developing websites (i.e. in the hosts file I create "127.0.0.1 somesite.me" and then use apache and http headers so that somesite.me in a browser returns a locally created website).

Looking in the /etc/hosts file you are told that the file isn't consulted unless you change your lookupd configuration. Lookupd is handled by NetInfo. And hence my problem: I had no idea how to change the order in NetInfo to look at the flat file /etc/hosts before going to DNS.

Read the rest of this article if you'd like more info on using NetInfo as at hosts file...

My computer is on DSL behind a router that uses DHCP. The connection was dropped this morning and Mac OS X's DHCP did not log back and in and get the new information from the router. I had to change the Network preferences to BootP, close the panel, and then return and select DHCP again. OS X logged back in to the router.

Is there any way to make DHCP log back in automatically?

[Editor's note: See the comments for a discussion on a number of alternative methods to making this work]

I have a number of apps/scripts that I've built that can only be launched from the command line. Is there any way to either:

A) Make these double-clickable for launching

-or-

B) Create a simple app that basically executes the same commands I would type in the terminal window

For example, I have a bulletin-board client that I run locally. At present, the only way to run it is to either type the full path to it, put a link to it in a bin folder, or be in the same folder and type ./bbs . What I really want is an icon that I can double click which will open a terminal window and execute a file in a given path.