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Second dissappointing thing about the Apple Mac

So I'm still waiting for the replacement for the first one that came, and was dead. Should be here next week. But that's not the dissappointing thing (well, not the second dissappointing thing).

Yesterday, I committed some changes to the current development branch. A Macintosh-using developer (quite a few of our developers use Macintoshes as their personal computers, although the company-standard for a developers workstation is a 64 bit, 2GHz AMD desktop with 2Gb RAM, 2 x 17" monitors, and Ubuntu desktop Linux operating system), IM'd me and said 'YOU BASTARD'.

So I was all like, 'Say Again'?

He replies, 'You committed a file called Home and there is already a directory there called home/'

Me: 'Huhhhh? Why does this matter'

Dev: 'The Macintosh uses a case insensitive file system'

SSSSCCCCCRRRRRREEEEEE!!!! SAY WHA???

The Macintosh Uses A Case Insensitive Filesystem?! How can this be? It's a Unix, right? But no, it turns out this wonder of modern computing uses a file naming system straight out of 1979.

Yeah, OK, so you CAN get a case-sensitive filesystem ... by reformatting the disc. When I google about that I get pages returned with titles like 'The Dangers of case-sensitive HFS+'. Dangers? WTF?!

If these dangers can be overcome, reformatting will obviously be the first task I do to it if I ever, ever, receive my mythically on-order and maybe-delivered-next-week after-a-month-of-waiting new 15" Macbook Pro. But srsly? A CASE INSENSITIVE FILESYSTEM IS INSTALLED BY DEFAULT? What barrel-full of retarded monkeys decided on THAT? Its enough to make me wonder.

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Posted by Autonomous Organisation on 25 August 2006 18:58:19 #


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Re: Second dissappointing thing about the Apple Mac

Comment from Anonymous on 30 August 2006 12:25:35 #
I reckon case insensitivity is a good thing in a file system. What you want in a file structure is a clear categoristion of information so that you, and others, can find what you're/they're looking for. Having directories named "HOME" and "home" in the same location is ambiguous. Which directory has home stuff in it (and don't say the "home" one--you know what I mean)?
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Re: Second dissappointing thing about the Apple Mac

Comment from scot on 31 August 2006 8:05:16 #
Well, one's a directory (home) the other one is a zero-length file (Home) that's necessary to fool the app server into thinking that the URL / is valid. The stupid app server won't redirect the 'welcome file' to the webwork action unless the welcome file actually exists. Its a complex issue. And in the intervening days we have reorganised the application to avoid this issue (Windows has the same issue, but no developer uses Windows in our organisation).

The real point is that OS-X is a Unix, as is the target system of the application (Red Hat Enterprise on Sun hardware) and unices have case-sensitive filesystems. So should the Macintosh.
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Re: Second dissappointing thing about the Apple Mac

Comment from Charlie on 10 February 2007 8:06:10 #
I know I am necroposting here, but I just ran headlong into this crap with OS X and Subversion. I have files named with different case, but the same characters ON PURPOSE - actually it is NOT AMBIGUOUS. What is ambiguous is trying to think for me and make things case insensitive. This is a load of crap, my fancy new Mac, based on BSD, is case insensitive! ARggggghhhhhhhhh - runs back to Linux.
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Re: Second dissappointing thing about the Apple Mac

Comment from scot on 13 February 2007 7:53:30 #
Charlie, yes it is annoying. However it's the fault of the filesystem (kept for backward compatibility apparently), so its possible to switch filesystems. For example, to ZFS, which looks really cool and worthy of a look, but I don't know if you can format your system boot disk with it. I discovered after I wrote that post, that the HFS+ case-sensitive file system either cannot or should not be used for boot disks. Haven't heard that term 'necroposting' before either. But it's a apt term.

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