How can I launch multiple instances of MonoDevelop on the Mac?

Question

I would like to open a new MonoDevelop instance to work on a different project on the Mac, and the OS is currently preventing me from opening a new instance.

Answer 1

For convenience, I just create three copies of MonoDevelop.

Highlight MonoDevelop in Finder, copy, paste, rename the new copy to "MonoDevelop-2", and repeat to your satisfaction.

It also helps me keep track of what's going on in different instances. I typically keep my most important project open in "MonoDevelop", use "MonoDevelop-2" for testing ideas related to my main project, and "MonoDevelop-3" for random scratch.

When you alt-tab (open-Apple-tab (command-tab (whvr))), the name of the executable shows up beneath its icon in the application list, so, as long as I stick to my convention, I always know(ish) the contents of the instance I'm alt-tabbing to regardless of how many other app windows I have open. I don't have to cycle through them to figure it out.

It's not perfect - when I have "MonoDevelop" running, if I try to fire up one of the others, the first attempt to start will fail. You just try to fire it up again - it works the second time. This has only been happening since the most recent build, though, and I think it might have something to do with automatic updates or add-in management. Haven't looked into it too much. Since there are no problems once up and running, I don't worry about it :)

The result is that, with the start-it-twice method, for any additional instance of MonoDevelop you'd like to start, you end up having to quadruple-click instead of double-click. Adds about fifteen seconds to the process, and since I have MonoDevelop (along with "MonoDevelop-1" and "MonoDevelop-2") running all the time, it adds up to, maybe, an extra thirty seconds of work each week. A fair trade for the convenience, methinks.

A bit hacky, but it's worked well for me.

And all the cool kids are doing it.