Mac OS X is built on UNIX, but it doesn’t ship with a lot of the classic applications and libraries ‘Nix users are used to under UNIX. If you find yourself missing some of your old friends check out UNIX Utilities for Mac OS X.
This collection of some of the most requested UNIX applications comes with everything you need to integrate them seemlessly into your Mac OS X desktop.
The Mac OS X terminal app that ships with OS X, but maybe you prefer ETerm, xterm, and rxvt — which may handle non-english fonts better or otherwise fit your needs a little better. Are you looking for Gimp for image processing, AbiWord for word processing, or xchat to talk to friends on an irc network? All these and more are included.
UNIX utilities for Mac OS X bridges the gap and unlocks the full power of UNIX under Mac OS X. It costs $29.95.
More info here.
Or you can go to fink.sf.net to install more unix software and keep them updated.
Another possibility, which I generally use, is Connect to server in the Finder, enter http://packages.opendarwin.org and download an installer.
Surely those people who know UNIX won’t have a problem just downloading these packages and installing them? I can understand having Abiword and Gimp for Mac people learning UNIX, but the alternate Terminals are a very UNIXy thing to include.
I installed X11 and FinkComander [both free downloads] and am really getting into the whole ‘Unix’ experience. Thanks Apple. OSX is way way cool, and Unix under the bonnet is just brilliant. On the face of it I cant see why you would want to pay $29 for UNIX utilities though.
I also use fink. What I like most is that I do not need to look for those *nix stuff on the web (nor where to download them from) or when a new version is available. With fink that info is one command away on the CLI for every package. It also answers questions like “is there such-and-such for OS X already”
You may surely d/l and install-deinstall by yourself but fink simply speed up that process by many factors.
You guys are harsh.
Yes, users can download UNIX utilities for free. For the initiated, that is obvious.
For the newbies, $29 is a small price to pay for convenience. The money isn’t for the tools, its for the packaging and simplicty.
If you’re going to spend $29 on freeware, you probably should buy my “Unix for Mac” book from Wiley, which includes free unix software on the CD, AND comes with a book that tells you how to use that software.
–Kynn