Wow. Touched a nerve with those Rixstep folks.
Trouble is, their aim is as bad as their logic. Wait, they don’t use logic.
See, I tried to register for their forum, because, like all the blogging cowards out there, they provide no trackbacking, no commenting. I’m going to have to assume, like all those other cowards out there, they can’t take criticism. Since my approval to join their forums was subject to review by a “moderator”, what I did get back was that they’d changed my username to “GodOfBacksides” and went ahead and filled out my profile page with all sorts of belittling crap I assume they found amusing.
When I wrote that they appeared to be….lacking…in the ability write a simple installer script, they chose to interpret it as “Barbozo has gone on the record to state he’s befuddled with the Rixstep Xfile Test Drive in that it requires two mouse drags instead of one to ‘install’.”
Huh. Think about that. Actually, don’t. You’ll get whiplash. Or at least stretch marks.
So you’d think that they’d worry that people would read such vituperation from them and follow the link to my original article to see just how much of a lame-ass I really am. You’d think. But they didn’t: under the auspices of
Although Rixstep won’t assist the hapless Apple UE ‘engineer’ in upping his page rank they will help you find him if you really feel you must. Here’s a clue: he considers himself a deity when it comes to men’s backsides and chose his domain name with that in mind.
Ow, my sides from laughter.
Nice to know they call men’s backsides “biscuits”, so at least we have that in common. And, “God of Backsides”? How embarrassing that they end up paying me a compliment instead of a homophobic bon mot.
They wrote up a whole page about lil ol’ me, a self-confessed brandishing of wit (though their wit is not so much in the soul as in the limbs and outward flourishes). It has a piquant, Usual Suspects theme, replete with Photoshop (sorry, more likely GIMP) embellishments.
Apparently I don’t know anything about anything. So why am I writing here? Well, at the risk of reanimating their exquisite ire, I’m pointing out just how embittered these folks are.
They accuse my ilk, the much-fabled “Landed Gentry” of Mac development, of “committing murder” and getting away with it. All those tiny, harmless files they eviscerate Daniel Jalkut for are quite easy to overlook if you’re smart enough to know how to construct an installer package. Which they don’t, so again with the ignoratio elenchi. Tediousness of limb, indeed. And for the record, if you use a utility application to build your installer package, the utility typically takes care to remove these “sloppy” files.
For the record, I do not know Jalkut personally, just by (high) reputation, but I do love MarsEdit and that’s all that should matter, is all that matters to me.
They bitch about other developers embedding copies of frameworks into app bundles instead of installing those frameworks in a place where they can be shared among multiple applications, which saves disk space (infinitesimal amounts, considering the sizes of hard drives), but then rixstep bundles all of it’s filesystem glue into its own framework, when, if they really were possessed of spirit of sharing and optimizing, they’d have built out MacFUSE plugins for each filesystem type so that Mac users could transparently work with all those other filesystems without having to know the difference.
But then that might cut into their sales of Xfile. And it’s just too bad because, just the other day my mom called me up, crying, asking me why oh WHY! couldn’t the finder show file inodes? She started calling me all sorts of names because the Finder couldn’t do this for her.
O, the Humanity.
Anyhoo, I was thinking that maybe I should just post a link to the webpage they spent so much time creating in my honor. But you’d follow that link and read their masterpiece and probably become angry or maybe just roll your eyes—or maybe even agree with them. Your choice. But since they insulate themselves from criticism (you can’t comment; you can’t trackback to them; you can’t even post in their forums because they’ll just delete what you wrote. You’ll just have to ingest the fecal matter and end up diarrheic and have to eat a lot of yogurt and then have constipation and then gas and, well, that all will just turn you into a rixstep devotee.
Why these people even bother with a platform they clearly so despise, selling a product that’s useful only to other propeller heads or, worse, IT folks, is beyond me. But they’re welcome to write software for the platform. If they make real money off of a tiny niche of users of a minority platform, more power to them. But then, who really has respect for anyone who bites the hand that feeds them? That disses the thing which owns the hands that they bite? (word has it they block all traffic coming from within Apple’s IP number range). I sure don’t.
And rixstep guys? Xfile’s not a drop-in replacement for the Finder any more than fink->download-package->compile->link->install->read man pages is a replacement for dragging an app into the Applications folder.
The best software is the software that people use and love using by choice and not because they’ve been locked into that software by proprietary file formats or because they invested so much time in learning an inscrutable command set and refuse to let the time-spent go to waste.
You wrote
Everybody loves MarsEdit - but that’s not the issue.
That actually is the issue. The only issue if you’re writing software that you want people to use. If you’ve not learned that, you don’t deserve even whatever small successes you might have.
Technorati Tags: Rixstep - Diseased Douchebags, apple inc, rixstep, tums
Not to mention they abuse Comic Sans!
Note: this commenter lives in Tucson and used a bogus email address when he posted
You’re correct about XFile not being a drop in replacement for Finder. I mean, it doesn’t even litter .DS_Store files all over the place! What kind of file manager doesn’t create pointless files in every folder it touches (smb, networked, or otherwise)?
Aside from this, I feel that the mudslinging nonsense is getting pretty dumb. I mean really, “dickstep” what? Does being on the internet make elementary school insults effective in some way I don’t understand?
Third, if you pay attention to the articles on rixstep as a whole, you’ll see that they believe OS X to be the best current OS, however they have some well constructed, serious criticisms of Apple’s recent history.
Also, it’s not flaming to point out the FACT that Apple likes to delete negative discussions from their forums, or write off obvious bugs as “annoying” but not an issue.
But what do I know, I’m just an idiot IT manager, (one of the worst people to write software for apparently)
If Jeff was taken out of the picture they kids in Africa wouldn’t be starving.
Uh, do they know you didn’t work at Apple in the 1990’s?
It’s cute that they presume to know how you picked your domain name (cough cough Eddie Izzard—what? cough cough)
They should really get off of Christopher McQuarrie’s nuts. Buy the fucking DVD and move the fuck on.
I have no idea what a ‘framework item’ is.
Did Steve Jobs steal their bikes when they were 8 ‘cause they sure are bitter about something, eh?
“City by the gay.” That’s both witty and totally not offensive to potential customers. Schmucks.
I love your self-righteous attitude towards comments and trackbacks, since censoring comments and only allowing comments by people who agree with you is apparently so much better than not allowing any.
[This commenter lives in Tucson and used a bogus email address when he posted]
LM: I say “dickstep” once and you get all up in my face and you remain silent about all the puerile stuff rixstep has done to discredit me? DId you admonish them in similar fashion? Oh, wait. You can’t. No commenting allowed.
Now, c’mon…you’re an IT guy. What’s a .DS_Store file for? The file itself is useless to a user, hence the leading “.” to make it invisible, yet its content IS of value the user. If you don’t know what that value is, well, that’s you’re problem.
I have moderated every related comment on this subject; they’re ALL there. Go look for yourself, then come back and apologize.
Riiiight. I especially love the ones where they eviscerate Jalkut and Gruber and Hyatt. The criticisms may be well-constructed criticisms, but they’re hardly constructive criticisms.
They bitch about bugs, yet report none. They know full well that if a bug doesn’t exist in the database it won’t be addressed. Instead, they whine and bitch about things to make themselves feel better, but block apple.com addresses.
Please DO show me where I called IT people idiots. Then go read about how they changed my username to something they consider degrading, how they “helpfully” filled in fields in my profile and spent a siginficant amount of time building a page that even an eleven year old MySpace member would find crude.
Hold up - you want them to use an Installer to move TWO ITEMS!? Please.
Well, you’re certainly showing your ignorance here. Show me a single file system browser that will work for an IT professional or UNIX geek on the Mac and I will show Xfile. It is simply the only thing available. It’s fast, it works, doesn’t leave it’s litter around, shows everything (doesn’t hide important folders like /usr, /bin and /dev as the Finder does). Sure, as you said, your mom doesn’t want to see inodes. But IT pros need to see inodes, need to create symlinks and hard links, and a lot more.
There are only two apps for Mac that actually function well enough for pros / geeks in this regard. One is the Terminal. The other is Xfile.
Regarding my insinuation that you called IT managers idiots, you did not, I’m sorry for making it sound as if you did.
Second, my post time-stamped 10:59 showed up only after my post calling you out on your censorship practices. (11:39) The post by Sam which is time-stamped 11:20 was already up.
I don’t think that Rixstep are perfect, but since when did playground insults become so effective at bothering people who work for global fortune 500 companies? This is my point.
I know what .DS_Store are used for, you’re right, they’re important to some people. But not all, these people who don’t need them are sometimes much more pleased with XFile than with Finder. Since when did Apple stop being “Think Different” and start being “Think Different like everyone else” The beauty of computers is that what works for you (Finder) may not be what works for me (XFile). This doesn’t make one solution better than the other, what makes Finder a problem though is things like the “Massive Data Loss Bug” which I can still replicate easily on my OS X.5.1 box. So I’m sorry for committing the same mistake you did by assuming everyone should work like I do. You’re right .DS* are not totally useless for all users.
I use bogus email addresses because I don’t want my internet postings connected to the company I work for. I find that unprofessional if I’m going to be giving opinions and not just facts. Also your site has no privacy policy, and I actually read all of the agreements that I make, you could do whatever you want with my email address if I give it to you, I won’t take that risk especially as you’ve proven that you want to invade my privacy; “This commenter lives in Tucson”. Luckily your IP sniffing isn’t that effective since I don’t live in Tucson. Got the right state though!
To LM:
They maligned good people, they insulated themselves from criticism—constructive or not—they lied. And you just offered the equivalent of “well, she was asking for it, dressed like that”? I never speak for my company. I am speaking to the lies and duplicity of Rixstep. Given what you and “Anon” said, Xfile is the only game in town, and since they insulate themselves, there’s no room for any “improvements” other than those the developers decide to add. If you found an app that was as enjoyable to use as MarsEdit, or ecto, or Acorn, that did the same things as Xfile, two things would happen: 1. you would choose that other app; 2. rixstep would get off its pink, fluffy hobbyhorse and actually follow Mac application conventions. And they’d probably file bugs with Apple. And they’d probably make more money.
To Anon, not so anon:
Yes, I expect them to provide an installer script. That’s what the Installer is there for: any installation which requires files (meaning 2 or more, in case you need the reminder), i.e., you can’t just drag an app icon into /Applications should use an installer package.
Well, that’s certainly far from their claim as a Finder drop-in replacement, isn’t it. And the features they DO expose for evaluation? Nothing so earth-shattering that can’t be accomplished in a bash window. MarsEdit, and most other downloadable software, give fully-functional trials that timeout after 30 days or so.
Also, being “simply the only thing available [for IT people]” isn’t quite the same thing as claims of superiority to the Finder and/or a drop-in replacement for the Finder, either. Is it.
Xfile could have easily been a standard Mac app with all look-and-feel intact and still do what it does. As for giving you more control, there’s not even a way (that I could find) of setting your own preferences in the app! So WHO’s assuming everyone should work the same way?
And if you have need to have .DS_Store files NOT created on remote volumes, it took me about 5 seconds to find this: Mac OS X 10.4: How to prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections.
And you do that in Terminal.
My statement was not the equivalent of “she asked for it” my statement was the equivalent of “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words cannot hurt me.” Think about it like this, do you care what their opinion of you is? Why then get into a pissing match with them, I have read some of your other blog articles. And you seem intelligent and forthright. I especially liked the piece of “Seven Years in Tibet” (That is one of my all time favorite movies) I just lament the fact that seemingly intelligent people who are by any other standard mature engage in such infantile exchanges on the internet. My comments are mostly just really long ways to say “Can we move on now, Rixstep probably aren’t gonna stop but who cares? There are more important things in the world.” Even as I write this, I’m realizing that I’ve been sucked into this same thing, so I’m letting it go, it’s a beautiful day outside and I’m off work, so I’m gonna go play some B-Ball or something.
L
It’s all about this: rixstep is cowardly, duplicitous and hypocritical.
And they’re attempting, time after time, to damage the reputations of good people, whom they call out by name.
The better question is, why aren’t YOU pissed off at them?
I really don’t think this is worth the thoughtful response you gave, Jeff. The Rixstep guy has, in my view at least, clearly gone around the bend. You wouldn’t engage a schizophrenic homeless guy on the street in a shouting match, and you shouldn’t argue with the Rixstep guy about software design. His inability to write in any sort of non-hysterical, measured fashion speaks for itself.
Agreed. But don’t you have this sort of sick, rubbernecking wish to see the source code behind that atrocity? All blood and guts splattered all over the project folder?
But hey, at least there aren’t any .DS_Store files in its bundle. Thank God (of Biscuits) for that.
Speaking as an IT guy hitting about 20 years in the field, um, no, Xfile is not the only file system browser worth using.
It’s barely worth looking at. I mean the UI. If I want to work that hard, I can randomly remap keys so I’m never sure what I’m typing. Be about the same level of pain.
I’ve learned a couple basic lessons through the years, both of which apply when talking to or about Rixstep:
1) A fanatic scorned will never learn. They still haven’t recovered from the realization that no, Mac OS X is not going to be the next version of OpenSTEP.
2) Anytime someone says (language) isn’t a “real” language or only (tool) is a “real” IT tool, it’s a sign they stopped thinking objectively, and should be politely ignored.
As for the rest…yeah, that’s a whole mess o crazy over there.
Daniel Eran wrote:
You are one damned fine writer.
The biggest question on my mind now is, why does macsurfer.com keep listing their rants? There’s so much better stuff out there. Top of the list is you, Daniel. I read your stuff all the time.
MacSurfer lets you submit stories. They’ve even got an AppleScript to help. I use it when I post something appropriate.