Dev

Posts relating to software development

How to set-up a Ruby and Elixir dev environment on macOS

Updated March 2025. This is the latest version of my dev env set-up guide, perfect for use after getting a new machine or carrying out a fresh install of macOS. You can use this guide for similar web development set-ups too, since the version manager we’ll be using (asdf) is perfect for a large number […]

Clean macOS install – the easy way

Updated March 2025. I’ve always been a fan of doing a clean OS install and it’s something I do for every major version (or every couple major versions) of macOS – because you are left with a pristine system that helps you get your machine as close as possible to how it felt the first

How to password protect a zip on macOS

Posting mainly for my own reference… Drag the folder you want to zip onto your desktop Open terminal and navigate to your desktop Type in zip -er file_name.zip file_or_folder_you_want_to_compress (hit the tab key to help you auto-fill the name of the file or folder you want to compress) Then enter a password, twice Done 😀

How to set-up a Ruby and Elixir dev environment on macOS Catalina

Edit: Please note there is a newer version of this guide here: https://astonj.com/how-to-set-up-a-ruby-and-elixir-dev-environment-on-macos-2021/ Having recently started afresh on macOS, I thought I’d make some notes on setting up a new dev environment. In this post we’ll set up a fresh dev environment for Ruby and Elixir – but you can use this guide for any similar web

Clean macOS install – without Migration Assistant!

Edit: Please note there is a newer version of this guide here: https://astonj.com/clean-macos-install-the-easy-way/ Migration Assistant recently failed to work when I was trying to migrate data from an existing Catalina based Time Machine backup to a new Catalina install (both 10.5.1). I tried 4 times and each time I experienced the dreaded missing emails bug! Since