Looking for where to post "Is Apple tacitly declaring independence / indifference regarding MacOS's Unix roots?"

Question

I've had a couple of posts recently that really prompt me to question whether Apple still really cares about Unix users. One of these posts was https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/270509/terminal-has-been-unstable-since-last-upgrade-osx-10-12-2; I wrote:

I have had repeated Terminal.app crashes while working with the command line, whether on the local computer or shelled into a Linux VPS.

Is this a known issue? Are there alternative CLI terminal applications that will behave like terminal, only at least being more stable?

Thanks,

@j.c. answered:

To answer your other question: "Is this a known issue?", I have been having problems with Terminal.app crashing too, and this post seems to suggest that the issue is known to Apple.

More recently I posted another issue: there's something called Apache installed, and I can't do an apachectl start twice without getting an error of /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist: service already loaded, but I can't for the life of me connect to port 80 on localhost. I posted on apple.SE at https://superuser.com/questions/1185171/how-do-i-get-apache-to-run-from-osx-sierra-10-12-13 :

I've made multiple searches for e.g. "apache Sierra", but haven't been able to find my issue.

I have a MacBook Pro running OSX Sierra 10.12.13, and it seems to have some version of Apache installed, but I can't connect on port 80 (or 443), either with a browser, or by running telnet localhost 80. If I run apachectl restart, it runs without reported error; if I run apachectl stop it runs without reported error; if I run apachectl start when I think Apache is running, it gives an error message, /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist: service already loaded. A which apachectl gives /usr/sbin/apachectl, so I believe I'm running OSX's native Apache and not a version pulled in from Homebrew.

What can/should I be doing so that Apache is running normally?

Thanks,

After the question was old enough to be eligible for bounty, and I had gotten off the phone with Apple technical support, I flagged it for moderator attention and requested migration to ServerFault.

In the technical support call, which lasted a bit short of an hour, I was escalated twice; even the first escalation was with someone who didn't know the command line and didn't know what Apache was. I was told that Apple offers Server which may include Apache, installable from the store, and supported GUI-driven use of Server, but Apple technical support does not offer help for the command line or command-line-driven Apache setup and configuration file editing.

Those both look like significant red flags. It's mainstream for users who want Macs to offer Unix functionality to want a stable Terminal.app and it's mainstream for web developers to want a working Apache installation on their box even if it's not shared.

Now I know that MacOS and iOS, with their NSStrings, owe a nearly indelible debt to Unix. And there are workarounds, like iTerm2 and Homebrew or source builds of Apache, and I'm using iTerm2 and plan on building another Apache. But I see ominous writing on the wall; it seems that Apple is losing its respect for hackerdom.

Are there other examples or signs that Apple is dropping care for Unix hackers?

Answer 1

This question is off-topic on any Stack Exchange site I am aware of.

The crux of the issue is question like this are looking for one of:

1. Opinions about a company's strategy.

2. Resources that indicate a company's strategy.

3. Inside information about a company's strategy.

In the first case, anyone can make a guess. Yours is as good as mine. There is no objective way to answer the question: all answers are speculation.

Second, resource requests are off-topic. That link explains it better than I can here, so please read it.

Third, the internet at large is unlikely to have any special knowledge answering why a company is doing whatever they are doing. At most we can give opinions derived from typical business actions (e.g. "doing what is profitable"), or link to blogs or other information from people who work there. Both of those are covered in my previous two paragraphs.

What you need to do is sharpen your google-fu skills, and perhaps post on an actual discussion forum (Stack Exchange is not a forum) or reddit (1, 2).