[OS X TeX] Assorted unix woes (slightly OT)

[Justin C. Walker]

This is really OT.

On Aug 27, 2006, at 12:21 , Alan Munn wrote:

> 1. Cocoa aspell
>
> I downloaded the new Intel version of Cocoa aspell and it seemed to  
> have installed ok.  However, when I open the Spelling preference  
> pane it says that the English dictionary failed to compile  because  
> I don't have sufficient access privileges.   There is a vague note  
> in the documentation about some users reporting problems if their  
> default shell is tcsh (which is my case, but there is no further  
> help on this.)

As Peter suggested, create an admin user that uses 'bash'; if the  
folks that provide 'aspell' don't have the answer, it may not be  
easy, and 'bash' is, currently, the shell of choice.

> 2. X11
> X11 loads and I get a working terminal window, but no other x- 
> commands works from the command line (or for that matter from the  
> applications menu).  E.g. xterm does not create a new x-window.

This is, as you guessed, due to the 'path' variable not being set  
correctly.  You should update either your .cshrc, or the system's,  
with the X11 bin path.

> Now since there are at least 2 users on this machine, I would like  
> to fix these things at the system level, not at the individual user  
> account.  It seems that I should edit the init files in /etc (/etc/ 
> csh.cshrc ) etc.  Is this correct, or do I have to edit each user's  
> init files separately.  Also, how do I make sure that the paths are  
> set correctly independently of the shell I use?

You can do either, but changing the system's cshrc is the simpler; it  
may change on each update/install, though, so you have to remember to  
check that file each time you do this.

As for other shells, the same holds.  Check the man pages and see  
where the user or system "rc" file for that shell resides.  Update  
the path variable there (with the same caveats on the system version).

> 3. man
>
> For some reason, my MANPATH is set to MANPATH=/usr/man:/usr/X11R6/man

This happens because the default on recent Mac OS X's is to use  
'man.conf' instead of the environment variable (so MANPATH isn't  
initialized during the "normal" system operation).

There was a discussion recently on this list about it (search for a  
message from Robert Bruner, in the last month or so, about man  
pages).  Your best bet is to 'unset' MANPATH (and remove it from  
whatever startup file it uses; I can't find one).

Regards,

Justin

--
Justin C. Walker, Curmudgeon-At-Large
Director
Institute for the Enhancement of the Director's Income
--------
"Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals.
  Well, except the weasel."
       - Homer J Simpson
--------


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