Thumbdrive $HOME

[Ashley Aitken]

On 25/05/2007, at 6:05 AM, LuKreme wrote:

> The issue, of course, is that I would like that version of my $HOME  
> to be useable as a sort of portable home, so when I sit down at  
> someone else's Mac I can, with a minimum of magic, have a useable  
> $HOME.

While this is doable and could be useful in certain circumstances, I  
have found through experience that my $HOME is much more than just  
preference files, keychains etc.  What about those apps you just have  
to have (the GBs of them), what about all those files you just have  
to have (the GBs of them).  The approach you suggest, to me at least,  
is a bit like living in a hotel room, it's fancy but just isn't  
anything like home since it is missing so much.  As I say though, it  
could be useful in certain circumstances.

> The only thing I can think of is creating a new user, then using  
> Netinfo to point the home to the drive, and then logging in as that  
> user.  That seems like a long way to go, and I'm hoping someone  
> else has done this (maybe with an iPod) and has some pointers on  
> making it easier?

I've done it as Matt says, using an extra account and aliases, on my  
home Mac and work Mac.  I don't use a thumb drive though I use a  
laptop in Target Disk Mode because it gives me access to the 80GB or  
so of the files and application that I just have to have.  It also  
save me from having to install and update these apps on the home Mac  
and work Mac, in fact any Mac I need to use.  Of course, I keep the  
OS (including all Apple apps) and all Apple Developer tools updated  
on each Mac (using Software Update).

It's quite nice in that, at least for TDM and I would guess for a  
Firewire drive and probably any other mountable media, it only mounts  
the media when required, so I attach the drive in TDM, login in, use  
the drive, logout, and then remove the drive (without having to  
manually unmount etc., as long as there is no other user logged in at  
the same time with fast user switching)  It's also the reason that I  
hope the Mac nano (or whatever they call it) has a large hard drive  
option (not just Flash RAM).

There are also four great advantages of this approach 1) you get a  
laptop to use in between home and office that has all your apps and  
files on it, and 2) no need to sync - I've tried that and for a large  
number of files it becomes a burden, 3) when at work and home I get  
the benefits of faster desktop and tower machines, and 4) I can  
backup the laptop to the work Mac whilst at work and the home Mac  
whilst at home, always having two backups removes the worry of  
carrying all your important files with you.

I find Firewire plenty fast enough for files and applications since  
the OS, swap space, caching, and other applications are running off  
the desktop or tower machine, which usually are faster than the  
laptop, have more memory, and a faster hard drive.

Again, as I said, it may not be for you, but I find it a great solution.

Cheers,
Ashley.