MacBook Survival Guide for Linux/Windows Engineers

A practical cheat sheet for staying productive on macOS while keeping your Ubuntu/Windows muscle memory intact.

Modifier Keys: The Only Thing That Matters

macOS uses different modifier keys:

⌘ Command → Your new Ctrl

⌥ Option → Your new Alt

⌃ Control → Rarely used (right‑click)

⇧ Shift → Same as everywhere

Common shortcuts

Copy: ⌘C

Paste: ⌘V

Find: ⌘F

Close tab: ⌘W

Switch apps: ⌘Tab

Switch windows of same app: `⌘\`` (backtick)

Make macOS Feel Like Ubuntu

Terminal Install iTerm2 and core CLI tools:

brew install --cask iterm2
brew install git tmux ripgrep fd fzf wget curl
Optional shell upgrades:

brew install starship
brew install zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting
Enable Starship:

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Window Management (Windows‑Style Snapping)

Install Rectangle:

brew install --cask rectangle

Useful shortcuts:

Left half: ⌥⌘←

Right half: ⌥⌘→

Maximise: ⌥⌘↑

Make macOS behave more like Windows Alt‑Tab

If you want true Alt‑Tab behaviour (all windows, all apps), install:

brew install --cask alt-tab

Essential Developer Tools

Homebrew (package manager) Install:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Languages & Tools

brew install node python go ruby
brew install docker docker-compose
brew install kubectl k9s
brew install --cask visual-studio-code

Kubernetes Tools

brew install kubectx
brew install helm
brew install minikube

Homebrew Package Management

List installed packages

brew list
brew list --cask

Search for a package

brew search <name>

Show available versions

brew info <package>

This displays:

Installed version

Latest version

Dependencies

Whether it’s a cask or formula

The tap it comes from

Upgrade everything

brew update
brew upgrade

Remove a package

brew uninstall <package>

Clean old versions

brew cleanup

Homebrew Repository (Tap) Management

Homebrew supports additional repositories (“taps”).

List taps

brew tap

Add a tap

brew tap <user/repo>

Example:

brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts

Remove a tap

brew untap <user/repo>

Samsung Fold + Mac: Hands‑Free Integration

macOS doesn’t have Phone Link, but these work well:

Intel Unison (best overall)

brew install --cask intel-unison

Features:

Notifications

Calls

SMS

File transfer

Photos

KDE Connect (Linux‑style integration) Code

brew install --cask kdeconnect

Install KDE Connect on your Samsung Fold too.

Google Messages for Web For SMS only:

https://messages.google.com/web

Music Player (Phone + USB Workflow)

VLC (best all‑rounder)

brew install --cask vlc

Handles:

USB drives

Local files

Network streams

No iTunes lock‑in

USB Drive Support macOS supports:

exFAT

FAT32

NTFS (read‑only)

For NTFS write support:

brew install ntfs-3g

Phone → Mac audio Bluetooth

USB‑C audio (Fold supports it)

Smart Switch mode for file transfer

Optional: Make the Keyboard Feel Like Linux

Swap Caps Lock → Ctrl System Settings → Keyboard → Modifier Keys

Full remapping with Karabiner‑Elements

brew install --cask karabiner-elements

System Monitoring on macOS

macOS is UNIX under the hood, so most Linux commands work the same. A few tools have BSD‑style differences, but nothing that will trip you up.

Memory Usage

top

Sort by memory:

top -o mem

Sort by CPU:

top -o cpu

htop

Install:

brew install htop

Run:

htop

vm_stat

macOS‑specific memory stats:

vm_stat

Logging on macOS

macOS uses the unified logging system, plus classic BSD logs.

Unified Logging

Show recent errors:

log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "error"' --last 1h

Live tail:

log stream

Filter by process:

log stream --process Safari

Classic Logs

Located in:

Code /var/log/ Tail system log:

sudo tail -f /var/log/system.log

Network Debugging

ifconfig

ifconfig

netstat

netstat -an | grep LISTEN

lsof (best for port usage)

List all listening ports:

sudo lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN -n -P

Find what is using a specific port:

sudo lsof -i :8080

nc (netcat)

Test connectivity:

nc -vz 192.168.1.10 5432

ping / traceroute

ping google.com
traceroute google.com

Install mtr:

brew install mtr

Firewall Testing

macOS uses an application firewall.

Check firewall status

sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --getglobalstate

List allowed/blocked apps

sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --listapps

Test inbound ports

From another machine:

nc -vz <mac-ip> 22

From the Mac:

sudo lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN -n -P

Port Usage

List all listening ports:

sudo lsof -iTCP -sTCP:LISTEN -n -P

netstat alternative:

netstat -an | grep LISTEN

Find what is using a specific port:

sudo lsof -i :3000

Packet Capture

tcpdump (built‑in)

Capture HTTPS traffic:

sudo tcpdump -i en0 port 443

Write to file:

sudo tcpdump -i en0 -w capture.pcap

Wireshark

Install:

brew install --cask wireshark

Getting Your IP Address

macOS

All interfaces (like ifconfig -a)

ifconfig

Clean, Linux‑style output Install iproute2mac:

brew install iproute2mac

Then:

ip addr

Just your primary IP

ipconfig getifaddr en0

(Use en1 if on Ethernet.)

Getting Your Current DNS Settings

macOS

The modern way (per‑interface DNS)

scutil --dns

This shows:

DNS servers

Search domains

Resolver order

mDNS / multicast DNS

The simple way

networksetup -getdnsservers Wi-Fi

Or for Ethernet:

networksetup -getdnsservers "Ethernet"

The Only Commands You Need for Ports, PIDs, Services, Logs

This is written so you can paste it straight into your wiki.

a) Check if a port is open

Test from the same machine (local)

sudo lsof -i :PORT

Example:

sudo lsof -i :3000

If nothing prints → nothing is listening.

Test from another machine Using nc (best)

nc -vz <ip> <port>

Example:

nc -vz 192.168.1.50 5432

Using telnet (old but works)

telnet <ip> <port>

b) Get PID for a port

This is the one you’ll use constantly.

sudo lsof -i :PORT

Example:

sudo lsof -i :5173

Output includes:

PID

Process name

User

Then kill it:

kill -9 <pid>

c) List services

macOS (launchd) List all services:

brew services list

System services:

launchctl list

Linux (systemd)

systemctl list-units --type=service

d) Restart a service

macOS (Homebrew services)

brew services restart <service>

Example:

brew services restart postgresql

Linux (systemd)

sudo systemctl restart <service>

e) Get / tail logs for a service

macOS unified logs Live stream:

log stream --process <name>

Example:

log stream --process nginx

macOS classic logs

sudo tail -f /var/log/system.log

Linux systemd logs

journalctl -u <service> -f

Example:

journalctl -u nginx -f

Bonus: The 5‑Command Mental Model

You only need to remember these:

1. Check port

sudo lsof -i :PORT

2. Test port from outside

nc -vz ip port

3. Kill process

kill -9 PID

4. Restart service

brew services restart name     # macOS
systemctl restart name         # Linux

5. Tail logs

log stream --process name      # macOS
journalctl -u name -f          # Linux

That’s it. You never need to remember netstat -tulnp again.

The Final “Oh Yeah, That’s Handy” Bits

Just a few more that often come up in real‑world dev work.

1. Flush DNS (macOS) Sometimes local dev + DNS caching = pain.

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Equivalent to systemd-resolve --flush-caches.

2. Quick HTTP server (Python) Same as Linux:

python3 -m http.server 8000

3. Quick file sharing (macOS → Linux/Windows)

python3 -m http.server

Or AirDrop if it’s Mac ↔ Mac.

4. Check open files (macOS/Linux)

lsof | wc -l

Useful when something hits ulimit.

5. Increase file descriptor limit (macOS) macOS defaults are low.

ulimit -n 65536

Permanent changes require editing plist files, but for dev work this is enough.

6. Quick process tree (Linux‑style) macOS doesn’t have pstree by default.

Install:

brew install pstree

Run:

pstree -p

7. Open a file/folder from terminal (macOS‑only) This one is weirdly useful:

open .

Or open a file in its default app:

open myfile.pdf

Or open in VS Code:

code .

8. macOS has no watch — install it

brew install watch

Then:

watch -n 1 "lsof -i :3000"

9. Quick clipboard access Copy to clipboard:

echo "hello" | pbcopy

Paste from clipboard:

pbpaste

Equivalent to xclip on Linux.

10. macOS has built‑in curl + openssl + ssh Everything you expect works:

curl -I https://example.com
openssl s_client -connect example.com:443
ssh user@host

No surprises.

Mac Book Setup

MacBook Survival Guide for Linux/Windows Engineers

Modifier Keys: The Only Thing That Matters

Make macOS Feel Like Ubuntu

Window Management (Windows‑Style Snapping)

Make macOS behave more like Windows Alt‑Tab

Essential Developer Tools

Homebrew Package Management

Homebrew Repository (Tap) Management

Samsung Fold + Mac: Hands‑Free Integration

Music Player (Phone + USB Workflow)

Optional: Make the Keyboard Feel Like Linux

System Monitoring on macOS

Memory Usage

top

htop

vm_stat

Logging on macOS

Unified Logging

Classic Logs

Network Debugging

ifconfig

netstat

lsof (best for port usage)

nc (netcat)

ping / traceroute

Firewall Testing

Check firewall status

List allowed/blocked apps

Test inbound ports

Port Usage

Packet Capture

tcpdump (built‑in)

Wireshark

Getting Your IP Address

macOS

Getting Your Current DNS Settings

macOS

The Only Commands You Need for Ports, PIDs, Services, Logs

a) Check if a port is open

b) Get PID for a port

c) List services

d) Restart a service

e) Get / tail logs for a service

Bonus: The 5‑Command Mental Model

The Final “Oh Yeah, That’s Handy” Bits

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