Howto on /usr

Enabling Postfix on OSX as a Relay: Revisited

Sun, 22 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Postfix on OSX: Revisited

A few years back, I had written a post on enabling the Postfix MTA as a relay server on OSX, which was quite well received. The article was originally written for OS X Lion, though it remained valid for OSX Mountain Lion, and more recently on OSX Mavericks as well.

However, things have changed on the OS since the last two versions, which warrants a revisit of the instructions, and a refresh of some of the steps. While the old set of instructions still work, there are changes needed that will keep the configuration future-proof.

OS X Mountain Lion: Need to reinstall Xcode command line tools

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So I upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion yesterday. The install was pretty smooth (though had a tough time with the redeem code for the upgrade, worked on the third code that Apple sent across).

Most of the software is working fine. However, I found that my existing Xcode installation needed an upgrade (via a Xcode install from the App Store).

The problem is that any new Xcode install seems to nuke the command line development tools (think make, autoconf, etc.). The solution is pretty simple though. Once Xcode has been installed, run Xcode and then open the preferences. There is a section on downloads, which lists installing the command line tools as an option.

Enabling postfix for outbound relay via Gmail on OS X Lion (and newer OSX versions)

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Update on Oct 25, 2014: Updated For OS X Yosemite.

Update on Dec 21, 2013: I have posted an update to the launchd setup for postfix. You should still read through this post, as most of the setup remains common to both posts.

The background

Mac OSX comes with the postfix MTA, which is a fully featured SMTP server. Under normal circumstances, there is usually no need to enable or configure this software, as most email access is usually done via GUI clients such as the Mail.app - which uses the POP/IMAP and SMTP settings to connect with the email service provider.

The Missing iSync in OS X Lion (and what to do about it)

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The short answer to someone looking for a solution: just copy over iSync from your Snow Leopard installation back to the /Applications folder in Lion, and also copy the phone plugin you need back into /Library/PhonePlugins folder. Everything will be as it was. Enjoy.

The longer story requires more explanation …

The Problem

I have been looking forward to upgrading to the latest version of OSX (Lion) ever since the announcements were made in the WWDC earlier this year.

Converting from TaskPaper to Emacs Org-Mode

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Why TaskPaper and Org-Mode?

TaskPaper is a simple and elegant task management software for the OSX platform. It combines the simplicity of a text micro-format to mark the tasks, and the elegance of a Mac UI. It also provides a quick launch time and a nice system-wide quick entry window that is accessible with a single shortcut key.

I have been a heavy user of Emacs’ Org-Mode for some years now, and love the power and flexibility it offers for tracking not just outlines and tasks, but any text based item, including notes and calendar entries. In fact Org-Mode has become one of the primary software that I use regularly, every day.

Emacs function to add new path elements to the $PATH environment variable

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A very simple eLisp function to add new path elements to the PATH environment variable. Very useful for adding new comint executables from within .emacs/init.el files.

(defun my-add-path (path-element)
"Add the specified path element to the Emacs PATH"
(interactive "DEnter directory to be added to path: ")
(if (file-directory-p path-element)
(setenv "PATH"
(concat (expand-file-name path-element)
path-separator (getenv "PATH")))))

Google Search from within Emacs

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A quick and dirty eLisp function for searching on the internet from within Emacs. The default is to search using Google, but you can add to the *internet-search-urls* variable to setup additional search URLs.

By default, the search term is appended at end of the URL - however, you can also encode the specific search term insertion point in the URL by marking the position using the “%s” marker.

;;; The custom search URLs
(defvar *internet-search-urls*
(quote ("http://www.google.com/search?ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=%s"
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=")))
;;; Search a query on the Internet using the selected URL.
(defun search-in-internet (arg)
"Searches the internet using the ARGth custom URL for the marked text.
If a region is not selected, prompts for the string to search on.
The prefix number ARG indicates the Search URL to use. By default the search URL at position 1 will be used."
(interactive "p")
;; Some sanity check.
(if (> arg (length *internet-search-urls*))
(error "There is no search URL defined at position %s" arg))
(let ((query                          ; Set the search query first.
(if (region-active-p)
(buffer-substring (region-beginning) (region-end))
(read-from-minibuffer "Search for: ")))
;; Now get the Base URL to use for the search
(baseurl (nth (1- arg) *internet-search-urls*)))
;; Add the query parameter
(let ((url
(if (string-match "%s" baseurl)
;; If the base URL has a %s embedded, then replace it
(replace-match query t t baseurl)
;; Else just append the query string at end of the URL
(concat baseurl query))))
(message "Searching for %s at %s" query url)
;; Now browse the URL
(browse-url url))))

Quickly diff the changes made in the current buffer with its file

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Update (23rd Jan 2010): Separated the key-assignment and function definition.

A simple function to quickly do a diff of the current buffer contents with its underlying file. Very useful if the file has been changed outside (e.g., a log file).

;; Diff the current buffer with the file contents
(defun my-diff-current-buffer-with-disk ()
 "Compare the current buffer with it's disk file."
(interactive)
 (diff-buffer-with-file (current-buffer)))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c w") 'my-diff-current-buffer-with-disk)

gnuplot with AquaTerm on OSX Snow Leopard

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The gnuplot graphing utility has always had excellent support for multiple terminal types. While the X11 terminal is a satisfactory GUI view for the graphs, I prefer to use the AquaTerm terminal on OSX as it is more ‘Mac-like’ and feels more natural.

Also, I do prefer to compile gnuplot by myself on OSX rather than downloading the pre-packaged binaries - as this gives me more control over the compilation (including getting around the stupid Apple readline bug - where Apple has essentially shipped a broken readline by using libedit to emulate the non-existent libreadline).

Importing contacts from OSX Addressbook to Emacs BBDB

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A major aspect of using Emacs is that it is more than a text editor - it is more of an application platform - some would call it an Operating System - that allows a host of applications to run within the same context and session - and vastly enrich the user experience. This is in fact a primary reason why many Emacs users spend their entire computer interaction via Emacs.

Replacing Mail.app with Gmail on OSX

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Off late the Mail.app email client on OSX has been acting up on me. It often stalls or displays the spinning beach ball of death till a forced quit is required. Also, it seems to have display rendering issues when a mail classified incorrectly as junk is moved back to the inbox.

I tend to use the Mail.app as a local email client for three main purposes:

Offline mode for reading my emails when there is no Internet connection available
Easy desktop search for the mails via Spotlight, and
Easy archival of important mail in my project workspaces (either in Devonthink or plain text export)

The other features (TODO and Notes) are nice, but not really useful for me as I use other tools for these items. The mail itself is served out via gmail accounts and IMAP synchronization.

Tips for using emacsclient using Emacs 23.1 daemon mode

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In an earlier post I had listed the server-mode mechanism to allow client/server editing using Emacs. However, this require some setup and also an active Emacs session.

With the latest version of Emacs (23.1), a new mechanism to invoke Emacs in a server mode has been introduced. Basically, emacs can be invoked with the –daemon option from the shell command line:

$ emacs --daemon

This will run emacs in the background as a daemon which will be listening in to emacsclient connections. To actually start a edit session, use emacsclient from the command line as before with the file name as a parameter.

Tips for using emacsclient and server-mode on OSX

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Emacs is a great editor, but has one setback - it is slow to startup if you have loads of packages to load. On my G4 iBook, it takes around 45 seconds before Emacs becomes usable (OK - I use lots of packages).

However, Emacs is not meant to be restarted every so often. The canonical usage is to start Emacs once, invoke the server mode (see EmacsClient) and then use the emacsclient from the command line to invoke the editor instance when needed. I.e., the classic client/server model for editing!

Setting the PATH variable from within Emacs

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A Small function to set the PATH variable from within Emacs. You can define the function and the path definitions in your .emacs file:

Very useful for OS X, where the default path is set by plists.

;; Define a function to setup additional path
(defun my-add-path (path-element)
"Add the specified path element to the Emacs PATH"
(interactive "DEnter directory to be added to path: ")
(if (file-directory-p path-element)
(setenv "PATH"
(concat (expand-file-name path-element)
path-separator
(getenv "PATH")))))

and use it as:

Emulate a three button Mouse in Emacs on a single button Mac trackpad/mouse

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Traditionally, mice on Macs have had just one button (including the iBook/Powerbook trackpads) - even through Mac OS (including OS X) can accept 2 or 3 button input without any problems.

Emacs on the other hand maps quite a few functions to the second and third chords of the mice. If you want to emulate a three button mouse in Emacs on OS X, a simple customization option will do the trick.

Using M-` from switching Emacs Frames on OSX

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The standard Emacs key-binding for moving to the other frame (‘other-frame’) is C-x 5 o. That’s quite a few key-strokes, and also does not match with the standard OS X key-mapping for switching windows, which is Command-`. On OS X, the Command key maps to Meta in Emacs.

However, this is easy to fix. Put the following code-fragment into your .emacs file:

(define-key icicle-mode-map [?\M-`] nil) # Only needed if you use Icicles
(global-set-key [?\M-`] 'other-frame) # This sets the key binding

Note that by default M-` invokes ‘tmm-menubar’ which can also be accessed via [F10]. Also, you do not need the first line (to undefine the key binding in Icicles) if you do not use that package.

Using OSX Spotlight from within Emacs

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Emacs comes with a ‘locate’ command that uses the locate system command to find files within your system.

On OS X, it is easier to use Spotlight, which is trivial to enable in Emacs.

In your .emacs file, add the following code:

(setq locate-command "mdfind")

Now try: 
M-x locate <enter your search here>

Your search results will be displayed in a new Window.

Musings on my Inbox Zero and GTD workflow

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

My time-management revolves around email, Calendar and to-do lists. While tools definitely help, it is more important to understand that we are processing information and acting on them, and it is just managing or tracking the items. A few pointers on what I use for Emails:

Email

The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it. - Edward R. Murrow