First, using the mouse, click with the pointer on the screen background, which is the Finder (or the Desktop). The word "Finder" will be at the top left of the screen, between the apple icon and the File menu. Click once on the word "File" and, holding down the mouse button, drag the pointer down the menu which will drop down, to the word "Find". Release the mouse button.
In the Find window which opens up, click once in the field to the right of the words "file name" (and to the right of the optional pop-up menu which probably says "contains"). Type in the word "terminal", and push the Enter or Return key on the keyboard.
A window will open up with Search results. Click once on the dark square icon next to the word "Terminal". In the bottom part of the Search window the file hierarchy will appear showing you where the Terminal application resides. Double-click on this Terminal icon, and the Terminal window will open up, with a cursor after your name.
That's one way to do it. On a Macintosh, there are normally at least three ways to do anything you want to do.
Now, type in the command lines per climateprediction.net instructions.
That's about as far as I can help for now. After I got the BOINC package downloaded and I went to install it, I got a window asking which application to use for opening it, and that's where I'm stuck. No one has yet responded to the question I posted on Jan. 27 about this.
Grace & peace,
Kenneth Brewster

Next step; Found as an answer to the "Can't get it to install" question of 2004 Aug 6:

Place the boinc application in a folder (The folder is a directory).

In the terminal window
type cd (small letters) a space, and then drag the "folder", not the application to the terminal window. That will automatically complete the path to the folder.
Hit return.
Now type the chmod ug+rx boinc_* and hit return.
It should give you no message, just a return to the prompt. If it gives you an error then instead of Boinc_* type the full name of boinc_4.1.13.13.13_powerpc-apple-darwin
If it just returns you to the prompt, then you are ready to go.
Type ./boinc_4.1.13.13.13_powerpc-apple-darwin (or ./boinc_* if that works); hit return.
Then go relax while it runs for some time, finishing the installation.

Also, to make it easier, you can change the name of the application to just boinc_4.1 the same way you would for any file or program on the mac. That will make typing easier.
And go through exchanges below about "visuals" if you want to see some depiction of what is happening.

Grace & peace,
Kenneth Brewster (husband of Toni, who has no patience for such rigamarole)

Kenneth, there's an answer available as a followup, in the place you asked the question:

> I got a window asking which application
> to use for opening it, and that's where I'm stuck. No one has yet responded
> to the question I posted on Jan. 27 about this.
> Grace & peace,
> Kenneth Brewster
>

You're seeing the Mac OS graphics interface -- asking you if you know of a program that would run 'boinc' for you -- but you know there is no program that will open it for you. It's a "command line" tool right now, no pretty interface.

Instead you open the Terminal, and drag the icon of the boinc application into the window. See the thread you started for more detail.

All the fancy windowingof OSX is doing is when you drag the icno into the Terminal window, it reads out the full path the same way you'd type it in by hand.

Mine right now is
/Applications/boinc_4.13 (I shortened the name on the icon, which used to be much longer == that doesn't hurt).

So I either drag the icon to the Terminal window, or else I just copy
/Applications/boinc_4.13
from a handy text file and paste it into the Terminal window, and hit Enter.

---> The officially posted explanation also mentions one extra step needed if you use Safari, which might be part of what's troubling you:

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/client_mac.php

(the version numbers are outdated; the info is still right)

---

> I managed to download and unstuff the .gz file. I then put it in a folder
> called "BOINC" in my Applications folder. I went to the Terminal and followed
> your directions. It came back with :
>
> Unknown option: ./boinc_4.19_powerpc-apple-darwin
> Usage: ./boinc_4.1..19_powerpc-apple-darwin [options]
> [...]
> I am stuck there. How do I run the thing? How do I know if it is running?
> Will it show up like a regular application on my Dock? As far as I could tell,
> it did not finish any kind of installation...

Just a guess, you did not attach your client to the project. So go back to the boinc directory and type

./boinc_4.19_powerpc-apple-darwin -attach_project

it will prompt for URL and account key which you received by mail after you created your account at http://climateapps2.oucs.ox.ac.uk/cpdnboinc/create_account_form.php

Et voilà, it should run now. You will not see any Application icon in the Dock as it is command-line - you will have the Terminal icon though, and an open window where you can see the results being calculated. It is of course possible to hide the process - just ask, as I will not explain how here to keep things simple.


- matthieu -

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