mac qmake .obj/debug-shared

[jacek]

qmake 'OBJECT_DIR = .obj'
doesn't mkdir .obj

Because it should be OBJECTS_DIR.

and doesn't do .moc;

You have to set MOC_DIR to get this. There's also UI_DIR.

but the question is, what turns .obj/debug-shared on/off ?

I don't remember well, but qmake defaults could have changed between 4.1 and 4.3.