Compiled through the very scientific process of pain, suffering, Google, and friends.

Posted online for the benefit of mankind.

If you're here, it might be because you've purchased a fantastic Apple Computer and would like to start using it for astronomical purposes. Odds are your professors/TAs have made reference to the ease of doing research on these plucky machines... while they certainly are a joy to use and own, this does not mean you're hashing out the mysteries of the cosmos right out of the box! Much of this setup is simple installations (Apple has made installing most programs a snap, unlike Windows), but some of it is more hands-on.

It’s really quite simple, just do all of these things:

1. •    Xcode Tools: This is a sizable package available from your OS X DVD. These allow you to do things like compile programs, use the unix command "make", etc. It might also be available online somewhere...
   

2. •    X11: Personally, this is the most important thing on my Mac. However, I do know several people who have X11 installed but still use Terminal, saving X11 only for graphical purposes.
   

3. •  NOTE: When using SSH in X11, to securely connect (used when you need to display graphics, new windows, etc on the remote computer) call ssh -Y bob@work.computer.net, rather than SSH -X... it is also useful to turn on Port Forwarding for X11.
   

4. •    Carbon EMACS: This is a distribution of emacs available from Apple's open-source website. The installer is easy and the version is stable and new. The version of emacs that ships with OS X is crappy, and does not include a stand-alone window version that one might be used to from LINUX. There is many other open-source programs (GIMP, Open Office, etc) available for free in Mac-Friendly form on Apple's website:  Unix and Open-Source
   

5.         Note: I have also heard good things about AQUA Emacs...
   

6. •     .bashrc: My Mac didn't come with a .bashrc, .cshrc, or .profile file. So I created one and X11 now looks at it! I use the .bashrc for X11, and .profile for Terminal. Here is a copy of my .bashrc file. The last part includes the commands to make the ls command in color like Linux.
   

7. 
   

8. export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH
   

9. SHELL=/bin/bash
   

10. 
    

11. if [ "$PS1" ]; then
    

12. alias emacs=/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs
    

13. alias wget=/sw/bin/wget
    

14. alias work='ssh -Y username@work.edu'
    

15. alias myip='ifconfig | grep "inet " | grep -v 127.0.0.1 | cut -d\  -f2'
    

16. 
    

17. PS1='[$LOGNAME@yourcomputersname: \W]$ '
    

18. 
    

19. export DISPLAY=:0
    

20. export CLICOLOR=1
    

21. export TERM=xterm
    

22. export LSCOLORS=exfxcxdxbxegedabagacad
    

23. export CLICOLOR LSCOLORS
    

24. 
    

25. . /Applications/rsi/idl_6.3/bin/idl_setup.bash 
    

26. fi
    

27. 
    

28. •    .Xdefaults: This file makes things look sexy, here’s a copy of mine. It’s pretty self explanatory, and the file belongs in your home directory with your .bashrc file (above)
    

29.   xterm*SaveLines:                2000
    

30.   xterm*Background:               Black
    

31.   xterm*Foreground:               White
    

32.   xterm*borderWidth:              5
    

33.   xterm*cursorColor:              White
    

34.   xterm*Curses:                   True
    

35.   xterm*scrollbar*thickness:      10
    

36.   xterm*scrollbar*color:          red
    

37.   xterm*ScrollBar:                True
    

38.   xterm*scrollBar:                on
    

39.   xterm*pointerColor:             white
    

40.   xterm*VisualBell:               False
    

41. 
    

42. •    Fugu: A friendly, easy, 3rd party SSH client. This allows you to graphically "drag-and-drop" between other machines, much friendlier than doing it on command line. Useful if you’re not familiar with SSH & SCP
    

43. •    LockTight: Allows you a hot-key to put your computer to sleep. Why there still isn’t a solution for this built by Apple is totally beyond me... Super useful for me.
    

44. •   GCC: This is a compiler package which is needed if you’d like to code with C++, Fortran, and others. Note that you need to have XCODE Tools installed to use this
    

45. •   Firefox & Thunderbird: Honestly, any computer you buy should have these on it. If you don't use them, at least have them. (A web browser and email client)
    

46. •   IRAF: It might be old and spiteful, but it's still very useful, and there's a whole website devoted to IRAF on Mac. Aptly named: The Macintosh IRAF Web Page. Look no further, want no further. This is your IRAF home. (Includes DS9 and all that jazz. Does not include STScI packages, etc.). However, I do believe there is a version of pyraf for OS X, but I have yet to install it.
    

47. •   IDL: If you have a serial #, or use a networked serial number like the SDSU Astro department, you can install a working full version of IDL on your mac. The new IDL 7 installer is pretty straight forward. I don’t use any of the IDLDE stuff (graphical environment) but it looks pretty dope. I don’t like the new way the Help browser loads, I still prefer to use the online help. Downloading IDL is still free, although you need an email address & to register (as of Sept 2008), pretty painless really. NASA has hosted a great library of IDL routines that you need, period.
    

48. •   LaTeX: I probably don’t need to convince you to use and love LaTeX. I like the TeXShop distribution for my mac, this link has lots of info... if you’re a real stud you’ll download MacTeX
    

1. •Ghostview (gv) is a bit of a trick, I have a whole separate write-up for it HERE... I think it’s worth your time! It sure is an asset to me in my research.
   

2.