Friday, February 18, 2011

OS X: Color ls() output, other shortcomings

I'm pretty new to the Mac.  Due to work demands, I've picked up a MacBook Pro.  I am also a long time Unix and Linux user and find myself frequently trying to get the Mac to behave more like the  *ix environment that I love.  My top 3 most annoying Mac'isms
  • Focus follows cursor - No apologies, I like the behavior and have employed it for a long time.  Apparently, it is not possible on OS X.  Really?  My research on the web says "nope, can't do it".  There is a quite an exhaustive assessment of the topic.  Check there for the details.
  • Window re-size - What?  I have to grab that little triangle in the one window corner?  Why, oh why can't I grab any corner or any edge?  
  • Window move - Holy crap.  Only the title bar?  No, this cannot be true.  Other platforms allow a button and click combination to move a window, anywhere in the window.  I used "alt-left click" on Linux.  Another feature that that appears unavailable on the Mac.
These are all "little" things, right?  Perhaps.  But, they impact me hundreds of times each day.  They certainly seem like unnecessary shortcomings, since we know there is Unix and X under the covers! They affect my productivity ... and peace of mind.   C'mon, Apple.  You guys are definitely quality technical people, without a doubt.  The Mac platform is beautiful in many ways.  Please, massage this beautiful product and accommodate a greater degree of configuration and flexibility.

I found, and am using, BetterTouchTool, that helps with my resize and move gripes, but only when using the touch pad.  Would be an excellent solution if the same features were supported with the mouse.  I don't see a way to accomplish.  Let me know if I've missed something!


OK, OK.  Onto configuring color with ls() ...
The CLICOLOR environment variable controls the behavior.  Add this line to your .profile.  Depending on your configuration you may use a .bashrc or other appropriate "rc" file).
export CLICOLOR=cone25
That should work for your normal, OS X terminal window.  If you use a different terminal session, the "cone25" value may not work as desired.

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