SVN failing to create SASL context

Trying to execute the command svn log svn://[my server address]/path/to/repository nets me the following: svn: E170001: Unable to connect to a repository at URL 'svn://[my server address]/path/to/repository' svn: E170001: Could not create SASL context: generic failure Some quick googling reveals a possible solution : sudo port activate cyrus-sasl2 @2.1.23_3+kerberos However, before I attempt this, I would like to know a couple things. 1. What exactly is going on? 2. What does this command do? How does it fix the problem? EDIT: I am not using SASL, nor do I wish to. I don't actually have Cyrus SASL installed.