All User's Desktop for Mac
Ever wonder if there is an equivalent for the All Users, Desktop folder on Windows for the Mac? You know, so you can place shortcuts / scripts / files in a place where they will show up for EVERYONE that logs in?
The answer is yes, there is and here is how to use it. First you will need to give yourself access to the folder you want to copy things into.
1.) Open Finder and navigate to: Macintosh HD (your hard drive) --> System --> Library --> User Template --> English.lproj
2.) Inside this folder you should see a Desktop folder but you cannot access it yet
3.) Right click on "Desktop" and choose "Get Info"
4.) Expand the "Sharing and Permissions" section if it is not already
5.) Click the lock in the bottom right corner and authenticate as an admin
6.) Click the + sign and add the current user; the account you are currently logged on as
7.) Change the permissions for the account you just added to Read & Write
8.) Close the window and open the folder now that you have permission
9.) Copy anything that you want to show up on everyones desktop into this location
***Caveat emptor (Let the buyer (user) beware) that this does not function exactly like the Windows All Users's Desktop. This is a profile template so, at first logon, anything in this folder will get copied to the new users Desktop. Any existing users will not see the new items and, once a new user logs in, they will have free reign to alter or remove their copy from their desktop. Alterations or deletions will not, however, affect the originals; as is the case with Windows' All Users.
You can, of course, accomplish this from the command-line in a much quicker fashion; if you are terminal proficient.
1.) Open Terminal.app
2.) sudo -s ***This allows you to execute commands as the root user; be careful not to muck something up
3.) chmod 777 /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop ***Change permissions to be "world writeable
4.) cp /path/to/item /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop/ ***Copy the items
5.) chmod 700 /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop ***Change the permissions back to what they were
Update 01/13/2014
If copying an applescript to the desktop you would simply
1.) save applescript as an app
2.) Launch Terminal.app
3.) sudo -s ***This allows you to execute commands as the root user; be careful not to muck something up
2.) cp -Rf /path/to/Applescript.app /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop ***You need the -Rf as the Applescript.app is actually a directory to the terminal; not just a single file as it is to the GUI
The answer is yes, there is and here is how to use it. First you will need to give yourself access to the folder you want to copy things into.
1.) Open Finder and navigate to: Macintosh HD (your hard drive) --> System --> Library --> User Template --> English.lproj
2.) Inside this folder you should see a Desktop folder but you cannot access it yet
3.) Right click on "Desktop" and choose "Get Info"
4.) Expand the "Sharing and Permissions" section if it is not already
5.) Click the lock in the bottom right corner and authenticate as an admin
6.) Click the + sign and add the current user; the account you are currently logged on as
7.) Change the permissions for the account you just added to Read & Write
8.) Close the window and open the folder now that you have permission
9.) Copy anything that you want to show up on everyones desktop into this location
***Caveat emptor (Let the buyer (user) beware) that this does not function exactly like the Windows All Users's Desktop. This is a profile template so, at first logon, anything in this folder will get copied to the new users Desktop. Any existing users will not see the new items and, once a new user logs in, they will have free reign to alter or remove their copy from their desktop. Alterations or deletions will not, however, affect the originals; as is the case with Windows' All Users.
You can, of course, accomplish this from the command-line in a much quicker fashion; if you are terminal proficient.
1.) Open Terminal.app
2.) sudo -s ***This allows you to execute commands as the root user; be careful not to muck something up
3.) chmod 777 /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop ***Change permissions to be "world writeable
4.) cp /path/to/item /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop/ ***Copy the items
5.) chmod 700 /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop ***Change the permissions back to what they were
Update 01/13/2014
If copying an applescript to the desktop you would simply
1.) save applescript as an app
2.) Launch Terminal.app
3.) sudo -s ***This allows you to execute commands as the root user; be careful not to muck something up
2.) cp -Rf /path/to/Applescript.app /System/Library/User\ Template/English.lproj/Desktop ***You need the -Rf as the Applescript.app is actually a directory to the terminal; not just a single file as it is to the GUI
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