User Account File Sharing

Question

I've searched this forum to find my answer, but I'm shocked by what I've read, and although it makes sense, I can't believe OSX (10.4) has been set up this way and want to double check with you guys before I give up.
I want to have two user accounts on my Mac. I do not have a broadband connection so, obviously, I don't have a .Mac account.
I want these user accounts to share the following:
• various files/docs
• iCal
• Address Book
• iPhoto
• iTunes
I know how to share files (use the shared folders).
Sharing iCal and my addresses w/o .Mac involves either third-party plug-ins or moving stuff around and making symbolic links. In either case, some users have said that updates made by one user may not be automatically seen by another...something that I'm not going to mess with.
Sharing iPhoto and iTunes seems pretty simple, but those programs run into problems when they're updated to, right? Can I share these libraries, add content to them, and have both users see the new content without having to manually update the library?
For what I think should be a pretty easy thing to set up this all looks like a pain and when all is said and done, will not have the functionality I enjoy now with only one account. Is this really the current state of affairs for those of us without .Mac accounts?

Answer 1

You need to create a shared folder in which both users will have read+write access to everything added inside. Prior to Tiger this was not easily done. But now it can be done with a quick trip to the command line to enable ACLs:
1) Log in as an administrator and go to /Users/Shared.
2) Create a new folder inside, call it something like SharedLibraries.
3) Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal, and enable ACLs by typing:
sudo fsaclctl -p / -e
4) Set ACLs on the new folder by pasting all of this at once:
sudo chmod +a "USERNAME allow delete,chown,list,search,add_file,\
addsubdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directoryinherit" \
/Users/Shared/SharedLibraries
Replace USERNAME with the short name of one of the users to whom you wish to give access.
5) Repeat step 4, replacing USERNAME with the short name of the other user.
6) Close Terminal.
7) To share the iPhoto Library, log in as the user who has the library you want to share.
8) Open up two Finder windows, one showing /Users/username/Pictures and the other showing /Users/Shared/SharedLibraries.
9) Drag the /Users/username/Pictures/iPhoto Library folder to /Users/Shared/SharedLibraries to move it to the new shared folder.
10) Command-Option-Drag the iPhoto Library back to its original location. This will create an alias to its new location.
11) Log in as the second user, and command-option-drag the iPhoto Library from the new shared folder back to the user's ~/Pictures folder.
12) Repeat steps 7 to 11, moving the appropriate libraries (iCal, Address Book, etc) for the apps you want to share.
Once you are done, both users will be able to use and edit the same shared libraries, just as if they were that user's own.