I'm just migrating from Ubuntu Linux to Mac, and everything is new and I'm re-learning a lot of stuff. On Linux I had the excellent apt-get to manage software packages. I googled for an alternative on Mac and found about MacPorts, Fink and Homebrew. I will use this computer primarily to develop Ruby on Rails applications. So, what are the differences between them? Which are the upsides and downsides? Which one is best maintained and has more packages?

I have Fink installed on my MacBook Air and when I looked for open ports I see the following which I am unfamiliar with: 8080 common http-proxy/second web server port. 8081 blackice-icecap ICECap user console. What are these and should I be concerned with them?

I've been using Homebrew on my Mac forever, but sometimes I run into situations where a package is not available. For maximum choice, which of the 4 major package managers (am I missing any?) can be installed alongside each other, without undefined behavior? I assume it gets ugly unless one picks a primary package manager, and then just uses other ones for very targeted, narrow installs that don't duplicate dependencies etc.

All the packages needed to install gnuplot through MacPorts on Lion succeed, except for aquaterm. Installing gnuplot through Fink is far less lucky on Lion. Fink bails out after only a third of the packages needed for gnuplot have been installed, but Fink does install aquaterm. Is there a way to 'port install gnuplot' while pointing MacPorts to the aquaterm installation generated by Fink? Also nice would be to know of a method to install gnuplot on Lion that uses neither Fink nor MacPorts. Learning about a replacement for gnuplot itself on OSX would be handy.

MacPorts became really a pain because it does compile the packages on your machine, like the infamous gentoo and I would like something with a smaller footprint on your machine. I know that Fink and other solutions exists but from what I remember form few years ago they are less maintained than macports. I would like to read a more informed opinion regarding which solution would be optimal and why.

I did a fresh install of fink 0.43.1 on a High Sierra system, then installed texlive and all of its prerequisites. That all works fine. Then I try to add xemacs: fink install xemacs and I am met with this error:

-3.2# fink install xemacs
Information about 10475 packages read in 1 seconds.
Can't resolve dependency "system-xfree86 (>= 3:2.7.112-3)" for package "xemacs-21.4.22-9" (no matching packages/versions
found)
Exiting with failure.

The fink list command indicates the latest available version of system-xfree86 is 2.7.86-3. How can I get around this?

I'm writing an install script for some software that depends on libUSB being installed however I need to check if macports or fink is installed, if they are not install homebrew. How can I check to see if the macports or fink are installed in a shell script?

My ISP has upgraded the server to Apache 2.4.9 from 2.2.xx. It has broken a couple things in my setup and I want to bring my local copy of Apache 2.2.26 to 2.4.9 so that I can test locally. I've been trying to find some information online, but I can’t seem to find a step by step instructions on how to do it, and mostly I find recommendations of NOT doing it. Instead I find people suggesting Homebrew, MacPorts, or Fink. Given that I have a number of sites working with local.xxxx.com and it all works well (edit locally, test by visiting their corresponding url with the local. prefix) and it is all pretty convenient and nice, I would like to continue doing the same, but with Apache 2.4.9. Any advice as to what's the best way to do this, or a pointer to instructions would be greatly appreciated.

I want to install "fink"to my new MacBookpro, when The core packages have been updated. You should now update the other packages using commands like 'fink update-all'. I assumed that fink has been successfully installed, but when I tried to follow the instruction call the command: fink update-all -bash: fink: command not found Is this expected? Or did I do something wrong? Any information is needed to do the trouble shooting, please let me know.

I’m doing some screen-scraping using Selenium, a framework which lets you programmatically control web browsers on your system. I’m running it as part of a web app on a Linux server, and on my MacBook Pro for when I’m writing the web app. On my server, Selenium uses Firefox headlessly (by using Xvfb instead of a real display). I’d like to do the same thing locally, so that I don’t have Firefox windows popping up all the time whilst I’m writing and testing Selenium code. In order to do this, I need to install the X11 version of Firefox on my Mac. I’ve seen a lot of references to MacPorts and Fink, but is there a way to just install the X11 version of Firefox, rather than installing MacPorts or Fink just for this one-off?

I am running Max OS X 10.9 Installed: -Xcode 5 (latest version) -Fink -MacPorts -Xcode Command Line Tools -Theos I have a shell script running Dpkg-scanpackages debs / > Packages But i am getting this error when running the script Last login: Tue Jul 8 11:43:25 on console Mayss-iMac:~ Mays$ /Users/Mays/Desktop/Generate_Packages.command ; exit; Can't locate Dpkg.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /sw/lib/perl5 /sw/lib/perl5/darwin /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.16.3/darwin- thread-multi-2level /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.16.3 /opt/local/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.16.3/darwin-thread- multi-2level /opt/local/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.16.3 /opt/local/lib/perl5/5.16.3/darwin-thread-multi-2level /opt/local/lib/perl5/5.16.3 /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl /opt/local/lib/perl5/vendor_perl .) at /opt/local/bin/dpkg-scanpackages line 8. BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /opt/local/bin/dpkg-scanpackages line 8. logout [Process completed] It used to work but when i installed Theos it stopped working and gave that error

I always used MacPorts to install and maintain my GCC compilers and other programs. Now I've heard about Fink and Homebrew. It seems these two utilities are gaining ground in the Mac community, but I don't understand the difference between them. **What is the main difference between MacPorts, Fink, and Homebrew? Is there any difference in quality or performance?**

I'm looking into doing some development on my Macbook Pro running Yosemite. I've used both Macports and homebrew before, but I really don't want to install anything on my machine outside of my home directory. Ideally I would be able to have everything installed under $HOME and still be able to link libraries such as SDL, install things like pygame, etc. I've read various other StackExchange posts about the three main tools (that I'm aware of, and which are mentioned in the title of this message) but I don't think I've seen a clear answer with regard to my question. Is there one?

While trying to install fink-0.38.4 I get the ERROR: There is no C compiler on your system. Make sure that the Developer Tools are installed. I have got errors about missing a C compiler while trying to install some other things too, but I don't remember which packets that were. I am a designer and need to install a packet called Emokit, but I am totally oblivious to all these open source things I had to install. I am in way over my head, which is why I made a giant mess. To name some stuff I have installed in the last couple of days: MacPorts, Homebrew, Xcode, X11, FoxToolkit, hidapi (maybe, I am not sure if I installed this correctly or not), python, cython, and a couple more and some libraries as well. While doing this I have learned what some things are. I know now that MacPorts and Homebrew serve a similar purpose and having them both is making trouble. However I don't dare to delete one of them because I think some stuff relies on them. I have multiple versions of GCC, but because some installations wanted a different version, I tried to switch from one version to another version some times. It sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. I forgot how I changed it and now I can't seem to change it back. I have made a mess and now I have no clue at all on how to fix it. I am running OS X 10.10.3. echo $PATH gives (in a list for easier reading) /usr/local/bin/gcc: /usr/bin/cc: /usr/local/bin: /usr/bin/gcc: /usr/local/bin: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin: /Users/rick/.cabal/bin: /Applications/ghc-7.10.1.app/Contents/bin: /Users/rick/.cabal/bin: /Applications/ghc-7.10.1.app/Contents/bin: /opt/local/bin: /opt/local/sbin: /usr/local/bin: /usr/bin: /bin: /usr/sbin: /sbin: /opt/X11/bin gcc -v gives Using built-in specs. COLLECT_GCC=gcc COLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=/usr/local/libexec/gcc/x86_64-apple-darwin14.0.0/4.9.2/lto-wrapper Target: x86_64-apple-darwin14.0.0 Configured with: ../gcc-4.9-20141029/configure --enable-languages=c++,fortran Thread model: posix gcc version 4.9.2 20141029 (prerelease) (GCC) whereis gcc gives me nothing at the moment. This used to be /usr/bin/gcc which gcc gives /usr/local/bin/gcc ls -al $(dirname $(which gcc)) | grep 'gcc\|g++\|c++' (I have no clue what this does actually) gives: lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 41 May 7 10:43 aot-compile-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/aot-compile-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 46 May 7 14:07 c++-4.2 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/c++-4.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 10:43 c++-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/c++-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 16:11 c++-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/c++-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 46 May 7 14:07 cpp-4.2 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/cpp-4.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 10:43 cpp-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/cpp-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 16:11 cpp-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/cpp-4.9 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 1166504 Nov 3 2014 g++ lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 46 May 7 14:07 g++-4.2 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/g++-4.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 10:43 g++-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/g++-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 16:11 g++-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/g++-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 43 May 7 10:43 gappletviewer-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gappletviewer-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 36 May 1 13:46 gc++filt -> ../Cellar/binutils/2.25/bin/gc++filt lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 gc-analyze-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gc-analyze-4.7 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 1166328 Nov 3 2014 gcc lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 46 May 7 14:07 gcc-4.2 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/gcc-4.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 10:43 gcc-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcc-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 16:11 gcc-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gcc-4.9 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 43016 Nov 3 2014 gcc-ar lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 36 May 7 10:43 gcc-ar-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcc-ar-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 36 May 7 16:11 gcc-ar-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gcc-ar-4.9 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 42992 Nov 3 2014 gcc-nm lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 36 May 7 10:43 gcc-nm-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcc-nm-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 36 May 7 16:11 gcc-nm-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gcc-nm-4.9 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 43000 Nov 3 2014 gcc-ranlib lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 gcc-ranlib-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcc-ranlib-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 16:11 gcc-ranlib-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gcc-ranlib-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 10:43 gcj-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcj-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 gcj-dbtool-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcj-dbtool-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 34 May 7 10:43 gcjh-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcjh-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 47 May 7 14:07 gcov-4.2 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/gcov-4.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 34 May 7 10:43 gcov-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gcov-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 34 May 7 16:11 gcov-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gcov-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 34 May 7 16:11 gfortran -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gfortran lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 51 May 7 14:07 gfortran-4.2 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/gfortran-4.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 38 May 7 10:43 gfortran-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gfortran-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 38 May 7 16:11 gfortran-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/gfortran-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 33 May 7 10:43 gij-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gij-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 34 May 7 10:43 gjar-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gjar-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 gjarsigner-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gjarsigner-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 36 May 7 10:43 gjavah-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gjavah-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 38 May 7 10:43 gkeytool-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gkeytool-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 43 May 7 10:43 gnative2ascii-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gnative2ascii-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 35 May 7 10:43 gorbd-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gorbd-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 35 May 7 10:43 grmic-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/grmic-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 35 May 7 10:43 grmid-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/grmid-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 42 May 7 10:43 grmiregistry-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/grmiregistry-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 gserialver-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gserialver-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 gtnameserv-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/gtnameserv-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 68 May 7 14:07 i686-apple-darwin11-cpp-4.2.1 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/i686-apple-darwin11-cpp-4.2.1 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 68 May 7 14:07 i686-apple-darwin11-g++-4.2.1 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/i686-apple-darwin11-g++-4.2.1 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 68 May 7 14:07 i686-apple-darwin11-gcc-4.2.1 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/i686-apple-darwin11-gcc-4.2.1 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 73 May 7 14:07 i686-apple-darwin11-gfortran-4.2.1 -> ../Cellar/apple-gcc42/4.2.1-5666.3/bin/i686-apple-darwin11-gfortran-4.2.1 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 38 May 7 10:43 jcf-dump-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/jcf-dump-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 40 May 7 10:43 jv-convert-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/jv-convert-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 44 May 7 10:43 rebuild-gcj-db-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/rebuild-gcj-db-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-c++-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-c++-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-c++-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-c++-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-g++-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-g++-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-g++-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-g++-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 61 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.7.4 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.7.4 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 61 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.9.2 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-4.9.2 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 62 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ar-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ar-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 62 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ar-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ar-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 62 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-nm-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-nm-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 62 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-nm-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-nm-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 66 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ranlib-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ranlib-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 66 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ranlib-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcc-ranlib-4.9 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 59 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcj-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gcj-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 64 May 7 10:43 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gfortran-4.7 -> ../Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gfortran-4.7 lrwxr-xr-x 1 rick admin 64 May 7 16:11 x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gfortran-4.9 -> ../Cellar/gcc/4.9.2_1/bin/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0-gfortran-4.9 gcc-4.2 -v gives couldn't understand kern.osversion `14.3.0' Using built-in specs. Target: i686-apple-darwin11 Configured with: /Volumes/Media/Builds/gcc-5666.3/build/obj/src/configure --disable-checking --prefix=/usr --mandir=/share/man --enable-languages=c,objc,c++,obj-c++,fortran --program-transform-name=/^[cg][^.-]*$/s/$/-4.2/ --with-slibdir=/usr/lib --build=i686-apple-darwin11 --program-prefix=i686-apple-darwin11- --host=x86_64-apple-darwin11 --target=i686-apple-darwin11 --with-gxx-include-dir=/include/c++/4.2.1 Thread model: posix gcc version 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5666) (dot 3) gcc-4.7 -v gives Using built-in specs. COLLECT_GCC=gcc-4.7 COLLECT_LTO_WRAPPER=/usr/local/Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4/libexec/gcc/x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0/4.7.4/lto-wrapper Target: x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0 Configured with: ../configure --build=x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0 --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/gcc47/4.7.4 --enable-languages=c,c++,fortran,java,objc,obj-c++ --program-suffix=-4.7 --with-gmp=/usr/local/opt/gmp4 --with-mpfr=/usr/local/opt/mpfr2 --with-mpc=/usr/local/opt/libmpc08 --with-ppl=/usr/local/opt/ppl011 --with-cloog=/usr/local/opt/cloog-ppl015 --with-system-zlib --enable-version-specific-runtime-libs --enable-libstdcxx-time=yes --enable-stage1-checking --enable-checking=release --enable-lto --disable-werror --with-pkgversion='Homebrew gcc47 4.7.4 --with-all-languages --with-nls --with-profiled-build' --with-bugurl=https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-versions/issues --enable-plugin --with-ecj-jar=/usr/local/opt/ecj/share/java/ecj.jar --enable-multilib Thread model: posix gcc version 4.7.4 (Homebrew gcc47 4.7.4 --with-all-languages --with-nls --with-profiled-build) This is the message the install helper (https://github.com/fink/scripts/blob/master/srcinstaller/Install%20Fink.tool#L2) gave me: Checking package... looks good (fink-0.38.4). Checking system... i386-apple-darwin14.3.0 This system was not released at the time this Fink release was made. Prerelease versions of Mac OS X might work with Fink, but there are no guarantees. Distribution: 10.10 Architecture: x86_64 Checking cc... not found. ERROR: There is no C compiler on your system. Make sure that the Developer Tools are installed. logout [Process completed] I don't know what more information to give or if this is way too much info. So please ask if you need anything more. Probably this stuff contains a lot of mistakes and faulty stuff. I don't understand much about this, but in my head the only way to be able to fix this now is to do a clean install of my OS, which is not really a possibility at the moment because I am in the middle of graduating. Thanks a lot for your help! **EDIT is below** After deleting a lot of gcc's I tried installing fink again: same error. I tried running this simple Hello, world! script. #include main() { printf(“Hello, world!\n”); return 0; } And trying to compile with gcc gave me the following: Ricks-MacBook-Pro:downloads rick$ gcc -o hello hello.c couldn't understand kern.osversion `14.3.0' hello.c: In function ‘main’: hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\342’ in program hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\200’ in program hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\234’ in program hello.c:5: error: ‘Hello’ undeclared (first use in this function) hello.c:5: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once hello.c:5: error: for each function it appears in.) hello.c:5: error: ‘world’ undeclared (first use in this function) hello.c:5: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘!’ token hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\’ in program hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\342’ in program hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\200’ in program hello.c:5: error: stray ‘\235’ in program Ricks-MacBook-Pro:downloads rick$

I am trying to install convex optimization package OBOE: https://projects.coin-or.org/OBOE/wiki/MacosxOboe I followed its instruction, but I run into errors in this step: fink install g77 I think fink is properly install because: fink install atlas is run successfully; while fink install g77 tells me: Information about 10346 packages read in 1 seconds. Failed: no package found for specification 'g77'! does someone know what happened? Thank you

I'm doing a bunch of python development and also just updated OS to Mountain Lion. I had replaced to original Python versions with Snow Leopard using the GUI from Python.org, then added links in /usr/bin: lrwxr-xr-x 1 root admin 71 Oct 22 18:12 python -> ../../../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7 So now I have what I think are all the python version that are part of OSX 10.8.5 (2.5, 2.6, 2.7) located in: /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/ and linked from /usr/bin And ALSO the ones I installed with the GUI located in: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/ But I'm planning to use the versions I install with fink, which is a port tree similar to macports which are/will be located in: /sw/bin So I have commented out the PATH exports in ~/.bash_profile that pointed to the non-fink executables: #PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin:${PATH}" #export PATH #PATH="/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin:${PATH}" #export PATH And added: # for Fink: export PATH=$PATH:/sw/bin . /sw/bin/init.sh I don't totally understand shell scripting yet, but init.sh initializes fink, I think mostly by adding elements to $PATH and other environment variables. Previously I have installed various packages with homebrew, macports and various GUIs and am hoping to have a more comprehensible environment this time around. At the moment I need to install postgreSQL and a bunch of python modules including pip, virtualenv, virtualenvironmentwrapper, psycopg. It looks like the easy_install executable (binary executable?) lives (alongside easy_install-2.5, 2.6 and 2.7) in /usr/bin/. So my questions are: 1. Is there any reason to have more than one copy of each version of Python? 2. Will python-dependent applications work as long as there's a link in /usr/bin/ to a working, executable python library, and the location of the Python executable is in the $PATH? 3. Is there much reason to keep Python2.5 at this point? 4. sudo easy_install-2.7 pip worked, so what exactly is -rwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 925 Oct 23 14:48 easy_install for?

I just got a new Mac Pro with OS X 10.9. When I run: brew doctor I get the warning: Warning: You have MacPorts or Fink installed: /opt/local/bin/port This can cause trouble. You don't have to uninstall them, but you may want to temporarily move them out of the way, e.g. sudo mv /opt/local ~/macports I didn't install MacPorts or Fink, why do I get the warning?

Unix-sytled, "package managers" like Fink , Homebrew , and MacPorts do a good job of managing 'headless' libraries. I would like something similar to manage OS X applications with a GUI. I am hoping to find an easier way to add/remove applications and restore my system in the event of loss or theft or if I purchase a new computer. Requirements: - find and install applications - keep track of which applications I've installed - uninstall applications and preferences - manage licenses Candidates: - AppFresh for Mac - best candidate; not free - homebrew-cask - good candidate; limited application support - Apple's App Store - easily find and install applications; doesn't remove applications; not all applications are in the App Store - AppCleaner - removes applications and preferences, but does not install applications - osx.iusethis.com - tracks application (which will replace my spreadsheet); does not manage applications Are there others?

I just installed OS X Mavericks on my Mac. Now I'm trying to install Fink via the instructions here I have gone up to this line command: ./bootstrap But after that I am not able to run this line command: /sw/bin/pathsetup.sh ... because there is no **bin** directory under **sw**. Is it perhaps because of Mavericks (the instructions have not been updated for Mavericks because it is so new). What can I do to fix it? (Paging Fink experts.)

Is it possible to deploy MacPorts server on an own server periodically updating it from global one **(i.e. create MacPorts distribution/update proxy server)**? So that all computers within organization could access this server to install software and not the global macports server? Is it possible with Homebrew, Fink?