Terminal Compatibility

[Fehler]

Hello,

My institution is about to roll out Casper on most of our Apple devices. As a staff member teaching computing and interaction design, I've a quick question that I've been unable to get an answer for from our IT folks.

If Casper is installed on my MacBook Pro, am I still able to access the Terminal with admin privileges?

I, and my team, need this to run JavaScript task managers like grunt.js and install GitHub Pages, etc. from the Terminal. In fact admin access from the Terminal is fast becoming required to do pretty much anything. I've searched here, but can't seem to find an answer.

Thanks in advance for any help. Much appreciated!

[adamcodega]

Nothing will be different on your computer unless your organization puts restrictions in to do so. I don't think it's going to be a concern for you.

[dferrara]

It depends!

Casper by itself won't prevent you from opening Terminal out of the box. Casper is a framework, and every implementation is unique. It's certainly possible that your IT folks could restrict the Terminal app, but since you need it do your work, it sounds pretty unlikely.

[scottb]

This is a great post though. It's amazing how many clients don't want to enroll their Macs into Casper because they think that once they do, it's all over! All I can think is that this is a carryover from their Windows experiences...

[Fehler]

Thanks, everyone.

Re. @scottb's reply, I've always been a Mac user. :-)

I think the issue is to do with how information is communicated. Without going in to too much detail about my institution, this was decreed from on high, with very little information provided as to intent, implications, anything.

I think a large part of the problem is policy poorly communicated. If there were a clear rationale provided by those higher up the food chain: Here is why we are doing this; here are the implications; and here is who you talk to if you have concerns… this might roll out a little more smoothly.

I really appreciate the responses.

One last question, I've heard that with Casper installed Time Machine isn't supported. I've also heard that Apple's Mail.app isn't supported either. Is that right?

Cheers!

[adamcodega]

Again by itself Casper won't restrict any of those, only if the organization wants to.

As admins, there are a wealth of blog posts and presentations on properly communicating and selling Casper/MDM to your co-workers. This thread only reinforces that. Thanks for sharing and hope the rest of the rollout goes well at your organization.

[calumhunter]

One last question, I've heard that with Casper installed Time Machine isn't supported. I've also heard that Apple's Mail.app isn't supported either. Is that right?

Where are you hearing this from?

Casper on its own won't do anything. Its like a car. Its not going anywhere without a driver (ok maybe bad analogy now with tesla and google cars - you get the idea)

[Fehler]

@adamcodega Thanks. I think, from my organisation's perspective, (without being too critical) how this is all communicated needs a little work. This echoes, @calumhunter's thoughts.

@calumhunter I'm hearing this from colleagues who have already had Casper installed on their computers. Also, I followed your analogy, fine! Thanks. ;-) I've heard from colleagues who have had Casper installed at my organisation that the following are not supported: Mail, Calendar, Photos and Time Machine (Apple). This is a concern for me as I use these products as the core of my work.

I imagine this is an organisation issue. My organisation has obviously decided not to support Mail, Calendar, Photos and Time Machine, which is causing myself, and a lot of colleagues concern.

As per my past replies, thanks everyone for pitching in.

[calumhunter]

oh man sounds like you have some bofh nazi sys admins who have forgotten it's their job to support the users. I spent a good chunk of my time as a consultant trying to get rid of these neck beards from organizations. I feel sorry for you, just complain to your executive hopefully they are responsive and get some changes in place. good luck

[Fehler]

@calumhunter Ha. ;-) Thanks. Let's hope I get it sorted so that my machine's not completely useless (which is how it's sounding right now).

My other option is to buy my own MacBook Pro, that way I can run what I like on it (but obviously that involves me subsidising my organisation's equipment needs with my own money). I really object to that - on principle - as I already bought my own iPhone and Apple Watch. (Given that I teach design for both of these devices, I kind of need them, but happy to buy those at least.)