I picked a launcher to replace Spotlight. It's Alfred. Read on for my rationale (and my nitpicks).

https://pcweenies.com/frugalmac-alfred-is-my-launcher-of-choice/

#alfredapp #macOS #launcher #frugalmac

Alt...

A customized Alfred launcher

It's finally time to try #MacOS on my old 2012 Mac Mini.

Can somneone explain me this?

On #MacOS's Save File dialog, if a file with a `:` already exists, the colon is replaced by `/` in the file listing.

And if I want to write a filename with a `: `, the text input changes it to `-`!

🚀 #Gitte 0.5.0 is out!

- Signed commits & tags (GPG, SSH & X.509)
- Signature validation in the commit log
- Signing status helper
- Collapse-all / expand-all in stash view and commit log view
- New Cornish (kw) translation, thanks to @pigeon_

Also included:
- Overhauled dialogs
- Refresh handling based on IO activity
- Fixes & dependency updates

Flathub: https://flathub.org/en/apps/de.wwwtech.gitte
macOS: https://gitlab.com/dehesselle/gitte_macos/-/releases/v0.5.0+24
Repo: https://codeberg.org/ckruse/Gitte

#git #gnome #rustlang #linux #macos

Alt...

Git GUI dialog reporting unavailable SSH commit and tag signing due to a missing SSH signing key file, with configuration details and troubleshooting guidance

Alt...

Git GUI showing commit history with verified SSH-signed commits, branch indicators, commit details, and a diff view for changes in a README file

Huh. I knew that Postscript support had been (foolishly) removed from macOS' Preview.app, but apparently at some point after that the pstopdf converter was removed as well. I used to use this to read manpages in a nicer format than a Terminal window.

Oddly, man -t ps (i.e., output Postscript) still works fine; there's just no built-in way to open the result.

#macos #postscript

Copying Remote Command Output to Your macOS Clipboard

A small trick to copy command output from a remote ssh session directly into the local macOS clipboard, using OSC 52 and a tiny shell script.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2026/05/26/copying-remote-command-output-to-your-macos-clipboard/

#ITNotes #macOS #Mac #Apple #shell #ssh #Linux #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #illumos #Terminal #Clipboard

I use Apple devices very often. Overall, I like macOS. Certainly more than Windows.

One of the things I find extremely useful is a command I discovered not too long ago: pbcopy.

pbcopy can be used to copy to the clipboard whatever it receives from standard input. For example, when I am in a shell, I often use a command like this:

cat filename.md | pbcopy

There is one limitation, though: this only works locally. It works when I am using my Mac and I want to copy something from the macOS shell.

When I connect to a remote (*BSD, Linux, illumos based) server via ssh, pbcopy is not available. Or, more precisely, even if I create a command with the same name on the server, that command cannot directly talk to the clipboard of my Mac in the usual way.

Luckily, modern terminal emulators have a few tricks available.

I use iTerm2 for most of my ssh sessions and, once I realised how useful it would be to have something similar to pbcopy in remote sessions too, I created a small script that works both on Linux, the BSDs and illumox based OSes.

The caveat is that the remote server cannot "magically" access the clipboard of my Mac. So the trick works because the remote command prints a special terminal escape sequence, and the local terminal emulator interprets it.

The sequence is called OSC 52. In short, it allows a program running inside the terminal to ask the terminal emulator to put some base64-encoded text into the local clipboard. This means that support depends on the terminal emulator I am using locally.

I use iTerm2, which supports OSC 52. Other terminal emulators support it too, so the idea is not tied exclusively to iTerm2. However, Apple's default Terminal.app does not appear to support OSC 52, so I would not expect this specific solution to work there.

So, in practice:

• with iTerm2, it works;
• with other OSC 52-compatible terminals, it should work (I haven't tested it, but should work with kitty, Ghostty, etc.);
• with Apple's Terminal.app, at least at the time of writing, it should not.

Settings -> General -> Selection -> Applications in terminal may access clipboard

This option allows programs running inside the terminal to access the clipboard through escape sequences.

Of course, this has security implications. A program running in the terminal, including a program running on a remote server through ssh, may be able to write to the local clipboard. For my use case this is acceptable, but it is worth knowing what is happening.

All I need to do is create a command, a small sh script. I log into the server where I want to create the command. In my case, I usually create a file called /usr/local/bin/pbcopy with the following content:

#!/bin/sh
printf '\033]52;c;%s\a' "$(base64 | tr -d '\n')"

chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/pbcopy

cat filename.md | pbcopy

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2026/05/26/copying-remote-command-output-to-your-macos-clipboard/

#ITNotes #NoteHUB #macos #networking #server

Ladies and germs, @bbedit 16.0 is out! I repeat: #BBEdit 16.0 has been released.

Update and/or purchase accordingly. This app has been a daily-driver for me since 1994 or ’95. #TextEditors #HTML #CSS #macOS https://www.barebones.com

Alt...

BBEdit’s macOS app icon — a large letter B set against a checked-diamond with a wrap-around checked bar

🥳 Gitte 0.4.0 is out!

Highlights:
- New mainline concept, „Sync with mainline"
- Revert commits directly from Gitte
- Partial staging for untracked files, stage/unstage via context menu, Enter or double-click
- New additive line selection mode
- Warning when pushing to a remote that is ahead
- Ignore whitespace in diffs

Plus UI polish, overhauled menus, and macOS fixes.

Linux: https://flathub.org/en/apps/de.wwwtech.gitte
macOS: https://gitlab.com/dehesselle/gitte_macos/-/releases/v0.4.0+20
Repo: https://codeberg.org/ckruse/Gitte

#git #rust #gnome #linux #macos

#iOS, #macOS, and #iPadOS 26.5 updates arrive with encrypted #RCS messaging and more

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/ios-macos-and-ipados-26-5-updates-arrive-with-encrypted-rcs-messaging-and-more/

#cybersecurity #privacy #Apple #Mac #iPad #iPhone #iMessage #encryption #messaging

So the new #macOS update is to enable #Apple to make money by shoving ads in maps and to enable Apple to make money by hiking subscriptions in the App Store?

Let me just rush off and install that bad boy.

How fast is a macOS VM, and how small could it be?

To assess how small a macOS VM could be, I ran the same VM of macOS 26.4.1 on progressively smaller CPU core and memory allocations, using my virtualiser Viable. The VM’s display window was set to a standard 1600 x 1000, and I ran Safari through its paces and performed some lightweight everyday tasks, including Storage analysis in Setting

https://www.osnews.com/story/144876/how-fast-is-a-macos-vm-and-how-small-could-it-be/

#macOS

Have a #ThinkPad running #OpenBSD and #Xfce look like #macOS: I stole someone else's font rendering trick and lost time doing this.

Alt...

An Xfce session screenshot. A Librewolf instance is visible side to side with a Thunar window and an Alacritty one. The terminal runs htop and fastfetch.

I'm considering bumping the macOS requirements for my binary package repository available at https://pkgsrc.smartos.org/install-on-macos/ again.

There's already a bunch of packages missing because they have newer C++ requirements than Xcode 15.4 supports.

What OS are folks running?

#pkgsrc #macos

Why do Macs ask you to press random keys when connecting a new keyboard?

You might have seen this, one of the strangest and most primitive experiences in macOS, where you’re asked to press keys next to left Shift and right Shift, whatever they might be.

Perhaps I can explain.
↫ Marcin Wichary

It seems pretty obvious to me that's what it was for, but I guess man

https://www.osnews.com/story/144766/why-do-macs-ask-you-to-press-random-keys-when-connecting-a-new-keyboard/

#macOS

@Wraithe

That's your reproduction problem, right there.

https://mastodonapp.uk/@JdeBP/116375184842626746

@cstross
#MacOS

Jay 🚩 boosted

JdeBP » 🌐 2026-04-09
@JdeBP@mastodonapp.uk

Here are some things that one can add to the analysis of the MacOS TCP timeout clock freeze bug.

The code for calculate_tcp_clock() in XNU was changed in May 2025. Older versions of this function (e.g. in xnu-11417) worked quite differently and wouldn't have stopped ticking the clock at 32-bit unsigned integer wraparound.

None of #NetBSD, #FreeBSD, nor #OpenBSD share this exact way of doing TCP timeout processing with #XNU.

FreeBSD does not have a tcp_now and works off the global 32-bit ticks variable. OpenBSD effectively works off the kernel's system clock, too, but with a randomized offset, and does 64-bit unsigned modular arithmetic. NetBSD uses a distinct 32-bit unsigned tcp_now counter that it simply increments by 1 at regular intervals, and does modular arithmetic subtraction.

https://photon.codes/blog/we-found-a-ticking-time-bomb-in-macos-tcp-networking

#TCP #MacOS

Here are some things that one can add to the analysis of the MacOS TCP timeout clock freeze bug.

The code for calculate_tcp_clock() in XNU was changed in May 2025. Older versions of this function (e.g. in xnu-11417) worked quite differently and wouldn't have stopped ticking the clock at 32-bit unsigned integer wraparound.

None of #NetBSD, #FreeBSD, nor #OpenBSD share this exact way of doing TCP timeout processing with #XNU.

FreeBSD does not have a tcp_now and works off the global 32-bit ticks variable. OpenBSD effectively works off the kernel's system clock, too, but with a randomized offset, and does 64-bit unsigned modular arithmetic. NetBSD uses a distinct 32-bit unsigned tcp_now counter that it simply increments by 1 at regular intervals, and does modular arithmetic subtraction.

https://photon.codes/blog/we-found-a-ticking-time-bomb-in-macos-tcp-networking

#TCP #MacOS

Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah ported to Nintendo Wii

Since its launch in 2007, the Wii has seen several operating systems ported to it: Linux, NetBSD, and most-recently, Windows NT. Today, Mac OS X joins that list.

In this post, I’ll share how I ported the first version of Mac OS X, 10.0 Cheetah, to the Nintendo Wii. If you’re not an operating systems expert or low-level engineer, you’re in good co

https://www.osnews.com/story/144756/mac-os-x-10-0-cheetah-ported-to-nintendo-wii/

#macOS

Yay NannyTerminal on macOS!

If you paste “dangerous commands” now #macOS 26.4 prompts you saying “this could be dangerous”…

I do effing security, not “sekurity” or “theatrical representations of sekurity”, of course I paste “dangerous commands” like a ten line awk script to parse data…

I was waiting for a quiet moment to switch to Ghostty and… I’ll do it in the middle of a double IR storm ‘cos I effing need to paste whatever I want in my Terminal window, and fast.

#NetBSD #Linux #windows7 #macos

1. You have a Mac laptop with an outboard Bluetooth keyboard. It’s asleep.
2. You wake up the Mac by hitting the Touch ID on the laptop keyboard.
3. The Mac is annoyingly slow at starting to respond to keystrokes on the outboard. Several seconds, sometimes.

How to fix:

1. Hit any key on the BT keyboard. The Mac will start waking up.
2. Now hit the TouchID to get signed in.
3. Hey presto, the Mac is already listening to the BT.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

#macos