And They Said the Mac Was Intuitive
Well, it definitely isn’t in one regard. I was able to delete my usr (Unix) folder. Yes, my usr folder. How did this happen? Well, one of the programs I installed caused this lovely little Unix hidden folder to become exposed. Knowing that I already have a Users folder and the multiple Library folder(s), it seemed reasonable to delete it.
WRONG.
Okay, first let’s try to figure out why this folder was exposed. I have a Maxtor Fusion NAS to store photos, music, data, etc. for both laptops on the home network. The Fusion has a built-in Web server to share data with external users. The Fusion requires a dynamic DNS. I use NO-IP.com to manage this for me (and because it is free).
The NO-IP.com Mac client is great in managing the dynamic DNS. Further, the NO-IP.com folks are great for support. Unfortunately, it seems that this little app is the culprit in exposing my usr folder (bug filed—received a reply—didn’t solve problem).
So, what happened? Well, yesterday I wanted to clean up my Mac by removing apps and using Cocktail to clean up caches and such. While perusing my hard disk, I saw this folder and thought, “I don’t need this” (as mentioned above). Wrong thought indeed.
This caused some very unexpected results. Once the Finder began to delete the folder, the machine locked up and my apps began to self-terminate. I forced a reboot by powering down and then powering up the Mac again, which resulted in the spinning cursor of death.
I then called my close friend Phil who manages Mac IT support at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, CA. Well, he confirmed the situation (including my limited knowledge) and provided the recommendation on how to get my system restored. Within four hours and after reinstalling the OS, life was normalized.
What did I learn? The usr folder is a UNIX folder that should not be made visible. And yet, mine was visible (and with the reinstall of NO-IP’s client, it is again made visible). Further, this is a highly critical folder containing key information about the OS.
Was this folder mentioned in the Mac documentation? Nope. Was this folder name something easily discovered online? Reasonably so, although I didn’t think to go looking until after the debacle.
Imagine if I was a novice user…yikes! Support calls, yelling, crying, and more. Woohoo! What a party. I still consider myself to be relatively new to the Mac, although I do have familiarity from yore. Nevertheless, this is not the intuitive and simple way Macs should work.
OS X’s underlying architecture provides amazing power given that it is based in Unix. However, do Mom & Pop care about this? Nope. Do they care that it just works? Yup. Do they care what the usr folder is? Nope. Do they even want to know about it? Nope. You get the picture.
For those who know much more than I, enjoy the laugh at my expense. For those who know less, beware of your own mistakes. You can still cripple a Macintosh computer.
Lastly…
Anyone out there know how to fix the permissions on my usr folder so I can hide it again? And yes, I did repair permissions using Disk Utility (as well as Cocktail).
M
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Oh well…
As a linux user (as well as a mac user) all I can say is, why hide the “Unix” directories from the user in the first place???
Educate the users - and make it difficult for them to touch system files <evil grin>
Warning: Cars are still unstable! I was washing my car the other day and noticed that it still had four ‘wheels’ on it. I had already removed the spare ‘wheel’ from the trunk in order to get a lighter car that got better gas milage. As it turns out, these ‘wheels’ are actually part of something called the ‘drive train’ and are what actually make your car move!
Don’t delete your wheels!!
While I feel your pain, tldiz2007. There had to have been a day when you didn’t know what you were doing and learned the hard way. You didn’t descend from the sky a fully armed sysadmin. While I completely agree that blaming Apple is asinine, try to have some empathy. There’s so much anger in these posts. Chill out folks!
Please, can someone explain what was the role of Cocktail in this ?
Thanks
To b: Everyone makes mistakes, I am far from innocent, but when I made those mistakes I had two things to my advantage - I took personal responsibility and researched the way to fix the mistake. On my own.
I have no empathy for knee-jerk reactions that blame everyone and every piece of technology, instead of admitting personal accountability and taking the steps necessary to learn.
Day in and day out I deal with issues such as this and if a user just stopped and thought, “Y’know, before I delete this or run that, maybe I should run xyz program through google and check some forums first.”
99.9% of my fire-putting-out work would disappear and real, non-emergency work could get done.
I hope this user uses this situation as an experience to learn, but from their attitude, they will most likely, just do a simple repair re-install and continue on, living in their little bubble of blissful ignorance until the next crisis happens - tomorrow.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Dude, you’re a moron. I’ve never used a mac, had very very little experience with linux, and I know not to delete the usr folder. I mean come on, at least look inside first and see if there are any real files in there.
You’re as bad as those people who want to clean up their windows folder by organizing the files by their type. You’re just plain stupid.
This is crazy… a novice user could disable a Mac by moving ALL the folders to the trash… or a baseball bat would work too! Some people should just stay away from technology; in my job at tech support I’ve told at least five people to donate their computer to Goodwill and never buy another one! Computers are actually complicated pieces of technology of which the Mac is the easiest to use. You need a license and training to drive a car, even the easiest ones with automatic transmissions and GPS navigation. Why do people expect computers to be something they don’t have to master. Oh, and I’m buying a violin this weekend… I should be able to use that without any problem, otherwise I will demand my money back and write a long blog about how violin manufacturers are not intuitive.
Matt,
My first mac was a PowerBook 165c when it debuted. I did somanythings to it that I ended up knowing how the system work, I did every haking I saw in mac publications, I even hacked the whole system with Resedit to make it look err… mor wierd than cool.
Stil, I keep doing some risky things some times -not as often as I used to- and they do not put in danger valuable data. Even thought, I have always taken responsability for what I did and do.
Messing with your computer will give you experience and you will learn a lot. I believe that the only mistake you did was the title of your column “And They Said the Mac Was Intuitive”.
I would choose “Learning The Hard Way”
Tropi
- A third-party application exposed a system folder that was normally invisible.
- The user was running as admin
- The user was prompted for admin privileges before deleting the folder. Even though he was running as admin.
There is only so much you can do to prevent the user from shooting themselves in the foot.
Beeb wrote: “For those of us who think that OS X is not any better or worse than Windows, I can see clearly how the user could so something like this without realizing how catastrophic his mistake. ”
Better or worse is highly subjective. However, Windows has several architectural traits that make it less secure and easier to break - some of which have been only addressed in the last few months with the release of Vista.
In XP, all users have administrative privileges to delete system files. You didn’t have to authenticate, regardless if you were logged in as Administrator or not.
Microsoft has “solved” this issue in Vista with the addition of UAC (User Account control). However, since this functionality was simply “bolted” on top of the existing Windows architecture, Microsoft allows you to turn off UAC completely for compatibility issues, etc.
Authentication can not be disabled in Mac OS X because it’s built into the architecture.
Is this better? Microsoft simply put a band-aid on the problem instead of fixing it at an architectural level. Apple bit the bullet and moved to a whole new architecture with OS X.
Sooner or later, Microsoft is going to have to break compatibility to modernize their OS. Apple already crossed that bridge 6 years ago. I’d say that gives Apple a significant advantage.
I LOVE YOU! I REALLY DO!
people like you have kept me in business for the last 25 years
I LOVE YOU!
P.S. Try deleting the Windows folder on an XP machine. Greeaat Fun Guaranteed!
Hey! I’ve been known as the superluser for <a >years</a>. Only I am allowed to do things so stupid, and not even I would delete /usr .
Also, feel free to do cd /;rm -rf *.* You’ll only delete a few files in your root directory. cd /;rm -rf * is loads of fun.
You, sir, are an idiot. Simply put, there is no excuse for your lack of computer skills. Anybody that goes about randomy deleting stuff from their hard drive without knowing exactally what it is is a moron.
But worse, then blame it on Apple? You are not worthy of a Apple made computer or operating system. Have you ever gone into the Windows folder on an XP machine and deleted anything? Unless it is like notepad.exe, I am almost positive it will have the same outcome. And note, if you have ever openly browsed your C: drive on an XP machine, the windows folder is COMPLETELY OPEN.
As you said, it was a software glitch that made the usr folder visible. So why blame it on Apple you dumbass? Blame it on the third party software, if ANYTHING. I mean, any system file requires admin priviledges to delete, so I guess you are at fault, since you authenticated to delete a system file.
Retire you computer now, and go back to the typewritter. There, if you mess it up, you don’t have the ability to alert the entire world to how much of an idiot you are.
“Imagine if I was a novice user…”
Wow, that is the funniest thing I have read in months. You sir, ARE a novice user. Hell, even most NOVICE users I know don’t delete something that they have no idea of what it is… I will say, you have balls of steel. If I had done something stupid like this, the LAST thing I would do is publicize it. Although, in doing so, you get people like me, that have never been to your site, yet will register JUST to tell you how dumb this was.
So, for future reference, if you don’t know what it is, don’t F^$K with it!
The attitude of making this Apple’s fault just blows me away… It wasn’t named in a way that you could understand? You’re f$^%ing kidding me, right? Yes, the Mac is marketed as easy, but that doesn’t mean that they should have to make everything vital to the system completely invisible to you. It is a fair assumption that most people won’t mess with something that they have no clue about.
Christ, I have never seen such an idiot behind a monitor. You really have no business using a computer, not only because of your mistake, but because of your transferrence of blame onto the system. Let’s put the blame where it really belongs… in YOUR hands. Idiot…
Oh, one more thing… Any program (your NO-IP client) that messes with the permissions/name of the USR directory is meddling in your system too much. Find a better client, or change to DynDNS or similar. Giving some poorly written app control is just asking for trouble, especially when you are a novice that can’t fix your own problems.
``Any program (your NO-IP client) that messes with the permissions/name of the USR directory is meddling in your system too much.’‘
Yup. I’m less concerned by the fact that it’s a security issue than I am by the fact that it’s obviously very crudely-written code, which I want as far away from my computer as possible.
This is such a non-story. Try it with your car. Open the hood, pick something that looks out of place, and then smash it with a hammer. Then blame VW for making the hood so easy to get into.