100+ services run on an idling Apple computer

This is how it always begins.

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APPLE PARK WAY (Rixstep) — There was a time when the new Apple/Unix community was burgeoning. The most unlikely marriage of all time seemed to be a reality. CLIX was taking off. Every major and minor research facility and institute of higher learning was using OS X. Dave Thomas of the FBI was openly recommending them. Rob Malda of Slashdot talked of 'the missing piece in the puzzle'. And Rob Braun of Apple Computer was tasked with making OS X 'open source'.

That was then. This is now. And what a change.

All systems suffer from featuritis over time, as Eric Raymond pointed out. But when it comes to getting just ridiculouser and ridiculouser, perhaps no one will ever surpass Apple. Bell Labs of Murray Hill found a way to simplify in the 1970s, and Torvalds of Helsinki found a way to renew this effort twenty years later. And now, thirty years on, such an effort may be needed again.

The embalmed glory known as John Siracusa admitted that Apple's 'end of the line' MacOS 9.22 would regularly crash overnight whilst doing nothing at all. A pause for thought is necessary there.

Recently Apple released an update called Big Sur, and their computers came to a standstill the world over. Because most applications must obtain approval in realtime from Apple's headquarters to even run on your machines.

(Notably, as reported by network experts stateside at the time, the only applications that did launch and run as usual were Rixstep's - for a good reason as all who follow this site know.)

Everyone knows that the enemy of robustness is complexity. But the 'engineers' at Apple have little experience with large-scale systems. Only a few years ago they were running simplistic cooperative multitasking systems and most likely none of them had ever seen the inside of a mainframe, much less created software for one. This is a big issue which can creep into any system, and not just computer systems either. This is how rot begins.

There are over one hundred running services listed here. These are active running services all taking time slices on what's supposed to be a dinky PC. When tiny contraptions get more complex than the mover-and-shaker boxes, something's wrong and the designers and bosses have lost all sense of proportion.

com.apple.accessibility.mediaaccessibilityd
com.apple.accountsd
com.apple.AddressBook.ContactsAccountsService
com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent
com.apple.akd
com.apple.ap.adprivacyd
com.apple.apfsuseragent
com.apple.applespell
com.apple.assistantd
com.apple.atsd
com.apple.audio.AudioComponentRegistrar
com.apple.backgroundtaskmanagementagent
com.apple.bird
com.apple.cache_delete
com.apple.CalendarAgent
com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper
com.apple.cfprefsd.xpc.agent
com.apple.CharacterPicker.FileService
com.apple.cloudpaird
com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration
com.apple.cloudphotosd
com.apple.colorsync.useragent
com.apple.CommCenter
com.apple.commerce
com.apple.CoreAuthentication.agent
com.apple.CoreLocationAgent
com.apple.coreparsec.silhouette
com.apple.coreservices.sharedfilelistd
com.apple.coreservices.uiagent
com.apple.coreservices.useractivityd
com.apple.CoreSimulator.CoreSimulatorService
com.apple.corespeechd
com.apple.corespotlightd
com.apple.CryptoTokenKit.ahp.agent
com.apple.ctkd
com.apple.diagnostics_agent
com.apple.distnoted.xpc.agent
com.apple.dmd
com.apple.Dock.agent
com.apple.EscrowSecurityAlert
com.apple.familycircled
com.apple.fileprovider.fileproviderd
com.apple.Finder
com.apple.followupd
com.apple.geod
com.apple.hiservices-xpcservice
com.apple.icdd
com.apple.icloud.fmfd
com.apple.iconservices.iconservicesagent
com.apple.identityservicesd
com.apple.imagent
com.apple.imautomatichistorydeletionagent
com.apple.imdpersistence.IMDPersistenceAgent
com.apple.imklaunchagent
com.apple.iTunesHelper
com.apple.keyboardservicesd
com.apple.knowledge-agent
com.apple.lateragent
com.apple.lsd
com.apple.Maps.mapspushd
com.apple.metadata.mdwrite
com.apple.networkserviceproxy
com.apple.noticeboard.agent
com.apple.notificationcenterui.agent
com.apple.nsurlsessiond
com.apple.nsurlstoraged
com.apple.OSDUIHelper
com.apple.parsecd
com.apple.passd
com.apple.pboard
com.apple.pbs
com.apple.photoanalysisd
com.apple.photolibraryd
com.apple.pluginkit.pkd
com.apple.quicklook.ThumbnailsAgent
com.apple.rapportd
com.apple.recentsd
com.apple.ReportCrash
com.apple.routined
com.apple.Safari
com.apple.Safari.History
com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.Service
com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncAgent
com.apple.SafeEjectGPUAgent
com.apple.SafeEjectGPUService
com.apple.scopedbookmarksagent.xpc
com.apple.secd
com.apple.secinitd
com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy3
com.apple.sharingd
com.apple.soagent
com.apple.SocialPushAgent
com.apple.softwareupdate_notify_agent
com.apple.speech.speechsynthesisd
com.apple.spindump_agent
com.apple.Spotlight
com.apple.storeaccountd
com.apple.storeassetd
com.apple.storedownloadd
com.apple.storelegacy
com.apple.swcd
com.apple.SystemUIServer.agent
com.apple.talagent
com.apple.tccd
com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd
com.apple.trustd.agent
com.apple.UsageTrackingAgent
com.apple.USBAgent
com.apple.UserEventAgent-Aqua
com.apple.usernoted
com.apple.ViewBridgeAuxiliary
com.apple.webinspectord
com.apple.wifi.WiFiAgent
com.apple.xtyped
com.rixstep.Keymaster

As time goes on, they'll panic more and more, hire on more pieces of plumbers pipe, and find a way to survive by utilising the BS spin of their vicious marketing department. But their systems will move inexorably towards ultimate doom. It happened once in the 1970s, it repeated itself a mere twenty years after that, and - given how Apple keep going about things - it's long overdue thirty years later.

You've obviously heard of us, otherwise you wouldn't be here.
We're known for telling the truth even if it's not in our interest.
We're now telling you to beware Apple's walled garden. Don't get locked in.
What you've seen so far may be only the beginning of something far far worse.
Download our Test Drive and at least check out our free Keymaster Solo.
That's the first step to regaining your freedom. See here.