On 6 Sep 2004 at 5:38, Dennis W. Manasco wrote: > As far as I can tell your work with Finale is the most important thing > that you do with your computer. Placing your Finale data files in your > root directory allows you to select them for work or backup with a > minimal number of clicks -- just double-click on your hard disk and > it's there; a second double-click gives you full access to the folder.
Um, if everything is under your ~user folder, then all you have backup is the ~user folder and all of its contents. If some of your data and settings are in you ~user folder and some of it in different locations (such as folders in the root of your system volume), then you have multiple locations to back up. This has zilch to do with permissions, specifically, but one of the reasons for the ~user structure that is the default for UNIXen is that the OS began life as a true multi-user system, with dozens or even hundreds of people logging in simultaneously to a single machine. Each user then needed their own home folders. They also needed to be given vastly reduced permissions so that they couldn't damage the system itself, since it was being relied on by dozens of people. You could do anything to the files in your own user space, intentionally or accidentally, but not to anything outside that. For single-user computers it would seem at first glance that this method of organizing files and assigning permissions is really inapplicable, but that's only when you forget that every computer, even if it has a single user, has multiple roles that are required for using and administering the computer. When you're installing software or hardware, you put on your Administrator hat. When you're just working, you're wearing your User hat. When you're working as a user, you don't really need administrative permissions -- you only need access to the files in your user space. And that means that you can't accidentally damage the system. On Windows, running under user permissions means that if you stupidly release some kind of virus or worm or Trojan, it can only damage your user files and not infect the system itself. Of course, most Windows users end up running with Administrative permissions because the Windows setup stupidly encourages that, so that's why the junk spreads so widely. But the principle is the same: Use different logons for different roles. It seems to me that Andrew's problems stem from OS 9 transition issues. If Andrew adapted his file organization to the new OS, he'd no longer have permission problems. I have to fight this fight with my Windows clients all the time, so I know that Andrew sees this as his OS forcing him to change his working habits. But I would say that the old OS was allowing him to do things that were bad, simply because the old OS (OS 9, like non-NT versions of Windows) did not allow for the proper segregation of user roles and permissions. In short, it was Windows9x and Mac OS that were flawed in not being designed with some degree of security and role/permission segration in their basic architecture. Now with OS X and Windows NT (Win2K, WinXP), we all have proper modern OS's that allow us to operate in a much safer, more secure and more reliable computing environment. My clients adapted to the new ways long ago, as soon as they acquired NT-based versions of Windows. It has mostly been a non-issue, though some of them are still annoyed at having to log on. -- David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
