[mrtksn]

Wouldn't be better to call this "cheat sheet"?

macOS already has sensible defaults, that's how people who have no interest in dealing with computers can use their machines for years with no issues or servicing(unless a latte is spilled over the keyboard).

Then, you can customise behaviour for some specific things to fit your workflow.

The problem with diverging from defaults without putting much thought on it is that if you don't use it frequently you forget about it and when weird bugs happen it gets very hard to debug because a common issue with a straightforward solution may no longer apply to you and you have no idea why since you cannot make the connection because you don't remember changing it.

[root_axis]

I mean, you could use it as a cheat sheet, but that's not what it is. IMO macOS has a lot of terrible defaults that are not at all sensible, of course this is quite subjective, but the fact that many mac users accept the defaults isn't really saying much, typically end-users don't even realize there are other options available.

[mrtksn]

You can have different opinions on what's sensible but to claim that something is not sensible as general you need to make a point about an issue due to the default settings.

For example, if people were getting hacked through remote desktop connection all the time you could have said that macOS has insensible defaults on the security or even existence of that feature.

However, with macOS that's not the case, in fact macOS has so sensible defaults that a lot of its users have no understanding of how it works and yet successfully use it for years with no issues and not gaining any understanding through the years.

The thing is so well designed that it's often dissed as a Starbucks machine, implying that it is used by people with a lot of money who don't know what they are doing while simultaneously is an extremely popular machine among creative professionals and engineers who also like coffee and know what they are doing.

Having options is nice, for example I dislike dark mode but I like the dark statusbar so I have a customisation for it. I dislike autosorting of the Spaces, so I disabled it. I prefer to simply tap and not have to press on the trackbar so I enabled it.

However I would't call the defaults not-sensible, it's just that I like some stuff differently from the defaults.

[root_axis]

> a lot of its users have no understanding of how it works and yet successfully use it for years with no issues and not gaining any understanding through the years.

This is true of every popular operating system. Most people just adapt to the defaults regardless of the OS. There are millions of people who use windows or chrome os, or even ubuntu as-is out of the box. Whether or not people want to change the defaults just depends on what they're used to, if you used windows for years and switch to macOS it's very likely you're going to be inclined to modify certain defaults and the same is true in reverse.

[notsureaboutpg]

The defaults aren't powerful, thought they are sensible.

Windows (and most Linux DEs like KDE) come with out of the box snapping windows to the four corners of the screen and to the left and right which is perfect for how most people use their laptops. Most people need two separate windows open side by side because most jobs are about synthesizing two separate flows of information in some way (research in one window while writing a document in another for example).

In mac you need to install an app to do this (Rectangle/Spectacle). Now, that's fine because you can click and drag the windows where you need them to be. But it wastes your time whereas the default in Linux/Windows saves your time. Sensibility over power.

[m5l]

This isn’t true for the last handful of major versions of macOS. It may not be as intuitive as other OSs but you can click and hold (or right-click I think) on the green button in the traffic light to get side by side options.

[happymellon]

I find Amethyst to be great for this, it also adds the missing command to move Windows between desktops.

[dcow]

Yeah but this is really a list of “tweaks”. It’s a nice list don't get me wrong, but changing the currency without prompting the user, using green as the highlight color (bad for accessibility), disabling window animations, configuring Transmission and TweetBot... there is plenty in the list that is in no way a “default” nor really even a sensible outcome to expect after running the script...

[moistbar]

> Wouldn't be better to call this "cheat sheet"?

Why would you call a script that actually changes things and doesn't actually show you a cheat sheet a "cheat sheet?"

[mrtksn]

Because the lines that do something are nicely categorized with documentation included. Instead of running it all, you can take a look what’s possible and apply it individually.

[moistbar]

> Instead of running it all, you can take a look what’s possible and apply it individually.

That's true of any script. The fact that this one is well commented doesn't make it not a script.

A cheat sheet is something you hang on a wall and glance at every so often. A script is something you run to make changes to a system. You can't run a cheat sheet.

[mrtksn]

How do you tell that it's not a really long string or a web page but a script? Maybe it's just a pattern of dots projected on LCD or 1s and 0s stored on a computer. I don't see any more concrete proof that it's not any of these but a script.

[moistbar]

> How do you tell that it's not a really long string or a web page but a script?

`#!/usr/bin/env bash` is a bit of a dead giveaway.

[dhosek]

I just see dots on my screen

[melq]

How can you tell that a tall man in a trench coat isn't just a kid with a second kid sitting on their shoulder?

How can you tell if the series of dots you perceive as an LCD isn't just a photorealistic painting glued to the front of the screen?

How do know if your nervous system isn't just your bain in a vat connected to a matrix-esque electrochemical system?

How can you tell that anything you believe to be real isn't just a sophisticated simulation?

How can you tell if someone on hackernews isn't just making a specious argument just for the sake for arguing?

[Rebelgecko]

If you don't want to make changes like turning the highlighter color to green or set the TZ to Belgium, it's a great template for making your own version of the script, and it does the useful work of collecting a bunch of 'defaults write', 'pmset', and 'nvram' commands

[garrtt]

I agree that calling it sensible is subjective. Most of these I wouldn't even use myself, but I found it to be a good reference overall. I set the title for the post based on the how the creator references the file.

[raghavkhanna]

Perhaps something to the tune of "How to customize macOS defaults" would be more appropriate then?

[capableweb]

> Wouldn't be better to call this "cheat sheet"?

No. A cheat sheet is used as a reference to some subject and is for making it easy to look up things many times, over time. This is something you read through once, apply the full thing / parts and then forget about it. Pretty big difference.