[X4U] OK with cron tasks if apps left running?

[Jim Scott]

On Jan 8, 2009, at 2:23 PM, Robert A. (Bob) Hall wrote:

> Does this mean that Anacron or McJanitor are not required for the  
> mac user who operates only an hour or do each day?
>
>> On 1/5/09, zapcat <zapcat at speakeasy.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> for the "housekeeping" chores that OS X does in the wee hours, does
>>> it matter whether apps are left running or not, either idle, or
>>> performing chores?
>>>
>>> IOW, will the cron tasks happen properly and their result just as
>>> good with running apps, or is it better of there are no apps running
>>> at all (aside from the OS itself)?
>>
>> No, it doesn't matter. Those tasks are run by launchd and periodic  
>> in Tiger
>> and Leopard. The connection to cron is long gone.
>>

Bob,

No, that's not what is meant. Even if you only use your Mac for an  
hour or so every day, sooner or later your caches fill up and need to  
be purged. I used to do this manually with MacJanitor before OS X 10.5  
came out. But since I started using 10.5 I've installed Anacron on all  
my Macs that run either 10.4 or 10.5. Why? It runs in the background  
and requires no attention or intervention from me at all, unlike  
MacJanitor or other utilities that run "cron jobs". It's a wonderful,  
free utility that does what 10.4 and 10.5 are supposed to do  
automatically, but don't do at all if your Mac is turned off at night.

Jim Scott