StartupItem Manager v1.0.5
© Septicus Software, 2002

StartupItem Manager is a graphical application that makes creating a boot service easy. Most UNIX systems (like Linux or FreeBSD) use text files to launch programs when the computer boots. These files are called 'rc' files (because they have names like 'rc.boot'). MacOS X, however has a much more organized approach to starting programs. The SystemStartup mechanism makes it easy to organize and manage the programs that launch when the computer boots, but there is one problem: there is no way to control it other than via the command line. Most people find a GUI way to control things preferable, and so do I. That's where StartupItem Manager comes in! It is an application that let's you manage StartupItems. Why would you want this program?

You want to learn about SQL and know a bit about Unix, but OS X is really different. How can you get MySQL to launch at boot? No problem. Fire up StartupItem Manager and create a new StartupItem for it! Now you can run SELECT statements to your hearts content and MySQL is up and running every time you start your computer. Soon, you are an SQL guru and making more than the author of StartupItem Manager... (which wouldn't be hard, trust me.)

You're a developer that has just created a new whiz bang Mac app that does nifty things, including a cool background daemon that monitors the system whojamawhatzit which the user can then see in a fancy window. But how do you get the daemon to launch at boot? No problem. Fire up the StartupItem Manager and make a new StartupItem for the daemon! You're happy to stay away from the command line, and your users think you're a spiffy coder, since they can now see their whojamawhatzits in a fancy window. (Are you a developer that needs to create StartupItems? Drop me a line, I have some code that might be of some use!)

There are many programs/services you might want to have running at boot time. If you need to manage them in an easy way then you might want to use StartupItem Manager. Or get real friendly with the command line.

This is not a fool proof way of creating StartupItems. The Universe is way too good at producing better fools. I just want to provide a fairly easy way to make StartupItems. Even so, it is entirely possible to make your system hang at boot time if you create a bad StartupItem. StartupItem Manager by default creates StartupItems that should work just fine, however, it is strongly suggested that you read and understand the SystemStartup mechanism before creating custom StartupItems.

StartupItem Manager includes online help to answer a couple of questions I thought people might have. See the 'Help' menu for details. The help files are also online at septicus.com. If the question isn't answered by the help files you can always email your questions! You will get the answers you need (provided the questions have answers) and the online help will be updated to reflect questions users have.

StartupItems aren't quite like the old MacOS 9 'Startup Items' folder. That functionality is provided by the System Preferences->Login pane in MacOS X. This is a way to launch what in OS 9 parlance would be called 'faceless background applications', or, in Unix speak, daemons. Programs with no graphical interface that provide some functionality that isn't seen in the GUI, such as email servers, SQL servers, or other tasks.

By purchasing StartupItem Manager you are entitled to any future upgrade versions, including any major release versions. The only features known to be upcoming in a future release is drag & drop support, but who knows, I might be inspired to add more and you would get the updated version free!

You can purchase StartupItem Manager for $15.00 US dollars via kagi. The program will not save changes you make to your hard drive unless you have a registration key, but you can still kick the tires and see if you like it without a registration key.

This software is provided 'AS IS' and without warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances shall Septicus Software be held liable or responsible for any damage incurred by the use of this software. If this program causes meteors to hurl themselves at you through the depths of space it isn't my fault.

If by some strange chance you should find a problem or bug in this application please feel free to send a detailed report of the problem in an email to: bugs@septicus.com so it can get fixed right away. The more detail you provide the better!

If you are having trouble and need help or have questions about using StartupItem Manager please send an email to: help@septicus.com. I'll get back to you ASAP.

If there is a particular feature you would like to see added, please say so! Feature requests can be sent to: features@septicus.com. They might not be included in a future version, but then again, they might!