[X-Newbies] Re: Questions re: Classic, Applications folder, firewall, faxing

[Charles Martin]

>> I suppose no actual HARM will come to you if you put your Word
>> files in the Application folder.
>
> Exactly.

I'm not sure what point this proves, but if it makes you happy ...  
it's still a dumb thing to do. As much time as you spend instructing  
people how to properly use their computer, why you suddenly seem to  
want to encourage (or somehow vindicate) a bad practice like that is  
beyond me.


>>> I find this even more intriguing.  Which applications, exactly, will
>>> cause problems if you move them out of the Applications folder?
>>
>> FAR too many to list here.
>
> Please list a few good examples.

I'll list one that I can recall specifically: Quark Xpress. Remove  
the app from where the installer put it, and it fails to function.  
Try it yourself.

Unless you're offering to pay me to test other apps for you, I would  
suggest that if YOU are the one who wants a list, YOU can spend the  
time testing apps.

I'm not going to go through my application folder and test each app  
to find out which ones stop working FOR you. Some do, I've seen it  
and had to correct it with customers, but I don't recall any others  
specifically. You're going to have to take my word as an Apple  
Certified Tech that some apps stop working (and all Apple apps stop  
updating) when you move them from where the installer put them. It's  
a fact, and just because you didn't know it previously doesn't make  
it less factual. Test your own apps and report back -- maybe others  
can compare notes!

But again, I think you're really missing the point -- the point being  
that messing with where the application's installer put things is  
generally a bad idea, and absolutely a bad practice.  Would you put  
your system folder in the trash, EVEN if you could , and it continued  
to work from there?

> And I would still love to hear how doing so will "Play havoc with the
> directory."

I would have thought this one was rather obvious, but I'll explain in  
more detail.

NORMAL USE causes directory corruption. Every time you do ANYTHING on  
the computer, the computer keeps logs, makes temp space, and alters  
the directory a bit. So the directory (along with other files) is  
rewritten almost constantly. Sooner or later, a byte is miswritten,  
then read back in, then perhaps another one and another. Over time,  
your directory WILL become corrupt. It's the entire reason Disk  
Warrior EXISTS.

This is perfectly normal behaviour. Cars don't run indefinitely  
without maintenance, boats don't sail indefinitely without barnacles  
and bilgewater, and computers don't always rewrite files 100%  
perfectly every single time. If they did, there would be no need to  
"repair permissions," as an example.

Thus, ANYTHING that makes the computer work harder than it needs to  
leads to an increased risk of directory corruption. Files that are  
left out on the desktop are "refreshed" far more often than files put  
elsewhere. That's making the computer work harder than it has to.  
It's not the only way to make the computer do more work than  
necessary, but it's one way. I'm sure you get the point from here.

Cheers
Chas