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Fink

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  Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 00:21 +0000
    Re: Fink Chris Schram <chrispam1@frontier.com> - 2011-04-13 20:59 -0700
      Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 13:12 +0000
    Re: Fink Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com> - 2011-04-14 10:52 +0000
      Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 13:13 +0000
    Re: Fink Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-04-14 12:25 +0100
      Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 13:13 +0000
    Re: Fink Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2011-04-14 07:44 -0400
      Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 13:12 +0000
        Re: Fink Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2011-04-14 11:38 -0400
          Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 21:07 +0000
        Re: Fink Paul Sture <paul.nospam@sture.ch> - 2011-04-14 22:39 +0200
          Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-15 00:30 +0000
            Re: Fink Paul Sture <paul.nospam@sture.ch> - 2011-04-15 09:48 +0200
          Re: Fink Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@newsguy.com> - 2011-04-15 14:41 +0000
    Re: Fink Tom Harrington <tph@pcisys.no.spam.dammit.net> - 2011-04-14 10:24 -0600
      Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-14 21:08 +0000
    Re: Fink "giuseppe.on.usenet" <giuseppe.on.usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-04-17 06:19 -0700
      Re: Fink Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-04-17 14:52 +0000

#1265 — Fink

Hello all,

Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite 
impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:

http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en

...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems 
like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively 
available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am fond 
of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.

Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he declared his horse a Senator.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

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#1266

In article <pan.2011.04.14.00.20.29@moria.lan>,
 Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite 
> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
> 
> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
> 
> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems 
> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively 
> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am fond 
> of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
> 
> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.

First off, point your fiendish web thingie to <http://www.gmane.org/>. 
Look for newsgroups in the form gmane.os.apple.fink.*. There are several 
ways you can access the groups. (I use MT-Newswatcher, so I can have 
multiple newsrc files.)

That said, I've used Fink for a few years. Before that I used MacPorts, 
whose goal is pretty much identical, ie: getting *nix software working 
on Macs. (Also look for gmane.os.apple.macports.*)

Some ports work great, some don't compile properly on some platforms or 
some Mac OS versions or some versions of Xcode. The support community in 
the gmane groups is quite helpful in getting issues like these sorted 
out. (I never could get the latest version of kdegames4 to compile on a 
G4 iMac running Tiger and Xcode 2.5, but the same machine running 
Leopard and Xcode 3.* compiled fine.)

-- 
chrispam1@frontier.com is a filtered spam magnet. Email replies WILL be lost.
Try <http://public.xdi.org/=chris.schram> instead.

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#1273

On Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:59:17 -0700, Chris Schram wrote:

> In article <pan.2011.04.14.00.20.29@moria.lan>,
>  Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> Hello all,
>> 
>> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite
>> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
>> 
>> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
>> 
>> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems
>> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively
>> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am
>> fond of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
>> 
>> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.
> 
> First off, point your fiendish web thingie to <http://www.gmane.org/>.
> Look for newsgroups in the form gmane.os.apple.fink.*. There are several
> ways you can access the groups. (I use MT-Newswatcher, so I can have
> multiple newsrc files.)
> 
> That said, I've used Fink for a few years. Before that I used MacPorts,
> whose goal is pretty much identical, ie: getting *nix software working
> on Macs. (Also look for gmane.os.apple.macports.*)
> 
> Some ports work great, some don't compile properly on some platforms or
> some Mac OS versions or some versions of Xcode. The support community in
> the gmane groups is quite helpful in getting issues like these sorted
> out. (I never could get the latest version of kdegames4 to compile on a
> G4 iMac running Tiger and Xcode 2.5, but the same machine running
> Leopard and Xcode 3.* compiled fine.)

Sounds good, thanks for the info.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he wondered why he bothered to answer.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

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#1269

Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite 
> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
> 
> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
> 
> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems 
> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively 
> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am fond 
> of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.

I much prefer macports.org


-- 
this is not a signture

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#1274

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:52:46 +0000, Lewis wrote:

> Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
>> Hello all,
>> 
>> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite
>> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
>> 
>> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
>> 
>> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems
>> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively
>> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am
>> fond of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
> 
> I much prefer macports.org

Thanks, will take a look at that too.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as Kanga sneezed in his honey pot.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#1270

Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> writes:

> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite 
> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
>
> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
>
> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems 
> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively 
> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am fond 
> of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
>
> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.

A bit shaky on occasion, but it basically works.

-- 
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/

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#1275

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:25:39 +0100, Richard Kettlewell wrote:

> Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> writes:
> 
>> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite
>> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
>>
>> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
>>
>> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems
>> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively
>> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am
>> fond of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
>>
>> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.
> 
> A bit shaky on occasion, but it basically works.

All right, thanks for the feedback.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he put on the hockey mask and started the saw.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#1271

In article <pan.2011.04.14.00.20.29@moria.lan>,
 Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:

> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems 
> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively 
> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am fond 
> of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
> 
> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.

I have all my open-source stuff self-compiled and installed in 
/usr/local (and ~/bin for my experimental Apache/PHP 5). That way I can 
keep as up-to-date as a I need to and not rely on the fink package 
system (or be subject to Apple's bizarre approach to BSD/Darwin 
updatery). Fink (and macports) will install a huge secondary system that 
you really don't need. 

On the other hand, Pan will be a problem, since it's a Gnome app and 
needs Glib and gtk and pango and stuff which is pretty much broken 
out-of-the-Mac-box, and difficult to set up. I keep Arch Linux (with 
Gnome) in Virtual Box for that kind of thing. Works a treat; your iMac 
will run it very quickly.

You'll need to re-write your $PATH (and $MANPATH too if you like) to 
deal with /usr/local.

What Linux were/are you using?
-- 
If you could teach a cat to dance, 
you'd never have to leave the house.
  -- Pat Sajak

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#1272

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:44:55 -0400, Warren Oates wrote:

> In article <pan.2011.04.14.00.20.29@moria.lan>,
>  Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems
>> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively
>> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am
>> fond of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
>> 
>> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.
> 
> I have all my open-source stuff self-compiled and installed in
> /usr/local (and ~/bin for my experimental Apache/PHP 5). That way I can
> keep as up-to-date as a I need to and not rely on the fink package
> system (or be subject to Apple's bizarre approach to BSD/Darwin
> updatery). Fink (and macports) will install a huge secondary system that
> you really don't need.

OK.

> On the other hand, Pan will be a problem, since it's a Gnome app and
> needs Glib and gtk and pango and stuff which is pretty much broken
> out-of-the-Mac-box, and difficult to set up. I keep Arch Linux (with
> Gnome) in Virtual Box for that kind of thing. Works a treat; your iMac
> will run it very quickly.

Hmmmm... the old dependency issue... OK.  I certainly could run a Linux 
distro in a VM, but if going that route I might as well just do it on a 
Linux box, since I am certainly not abandoning Linux to go Mac-only...  I 
am quite familiar with VB already, so may do it anyway just for fun.  Was 
hoping to run Pan "natively" on the Mac, and may still try to do that.
 
> You'll need to re-write your $PATH (and $MANPATH too if you like) to
> deal with /usr/local.

Gotcha.

> What Linux were/are you using?

Slackware.  (is there anything else?)  ;)


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he got cattle-prodded in the groin.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

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#1276

In article <pan.2011.04.14.13.11.47@moria.lan>,
 Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:

> Slackware.  (is there anything else?)  ;)

Man after my own heart. I don't use Linux much these days, so I keep 
Arch because it's very simple and the "rolling release" system suits my 
needs and I have enough trouble keeping /usr/local up to date.
-- 
If you could teach a cat to dance, 
you'd never have to leave the house.
  -- Pat Sajak

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#1279

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:38:03 -0400, Warren Oates wrote:

> In article <pan.2011.04.14.13.11.47@moria.lan>,
>  Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> Slackware.  (is there anything else?)  ;)
> 
> Man after my own heart. I don't use Linux much these days, so I keep
> Arch because it's very simple and the "rolling release" system suits my
> needs and I have enough trouble keeping /usr/local up to date.

I like Arch as well.  It's my second-favorite, in fact.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he descended down into Shayol Ghul.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#1278

In article <pan.2011.04.14.13.11.47@moria.lan>,
 Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:

> Hmmmm... the old dependency issue... OK.  I certainly could run a Linux 
> distro in a VM, but if going that route I might as well just do it on a 
> Linux box, since I am certainly not abandoning Linux to go Mac-only...  I 
> am quite familiar with VB already, so may do it anyway just for fun.  Was 
> hoping to run Pan "natively" on the Mac, and may still try to do that.
>  

Another vote here for running your favourite apps in a suitable VM 
client.

Unless I missed some option or another, Macports will download and 
recompile the same modules you did yesterday for another product.  
Getting the preconpiled packages from your favourite Linux distribution 
is so much easier.

-- 
Paul Sture

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#1281

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:39:38 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:

> In article <pan.2011.04.14.13.11.47@moria.lan>,
>  Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> Hmmmm... the old dependency issue... OK.  I certainly could run a Linux
>> distro in a VM, but if going that route I might as well just do it on a
>> Linux box, since I am certainly not abandoning Linux to go Mac-only... 
>> I am quite familiar with VB already, so may do it anyway just for fun. 
>> Was hoping to run Pan "natively" on the Mac, and may still try to do
>> that.
>>  
>>  
> Another vote here for running your favourite apps in a suitable VM
> client.
> 
> Unless I missed some option or another, Macports will download and
> recompile the same modules you did yesterday for another product.
> Getting the preconpiled packages from your favourite Linux distribution
> is so much easier.

Yeah, you may be right.  Thanks for your response!


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he downed his twelfth Guinness.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

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#1285

In article <pan.2011.04.15.00.30.13@moria.lan>,
 Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:

> On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:39:38 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> 
> > In article <pan.2011.04.14.13.11.47@moria.lan>,
> >  Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> >> Hmmmm... the old dependency issue... OK.  I certainly could run a Linux
> >> distro in a VM, but if going that route I might as well just do it on a
> >> Linux box, since I am certainly not abandoning Linux to go Mac-only... 
> >> I am quite familiar with VB already, so may do it anyway just for fun. 
> >> Was hoping to run Pan "natively" on the Mac, and may still try to do
> >> that.
> >>  
> >>  
> > Another vote here for running your favourite apps in a suitable VM
> > client.
> > 
> > Unless I missed some option or another, Macports will download and
> > recompile the same modules you did yesterday for another product.
> > Getting the preconpiled packages from your favourite Linux distribution
> > is so much easier.
> 
> Yeah, you may be right.  Thanks for your response!

The other advantage of running in VMs is that you can run mixed versions 
without the danger of one version stepping on another.

-- 
Paul Sture

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#1289

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:39:38 +0200, Paul Sture wrote:
> Unless I missed some option or another, Macports will download and
> recompile the same modules you did yesterday for another product.

MacPorts does not do this on a port install unless the new port requires 
a variant that is not currently available.

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#1277

In article <pan.2011.04.14.00.20.29@moria.lan>,
 Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite 
> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
> 
> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
> 
> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems 
> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively 
> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am fond 
> of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
> 
> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.

Fink was OK, and so was MacPorts. More recently I've used HomeBrew 
(https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew).

In general, how well these schemes work depend on how deep the 
dependency tree runs. Simple command line tools, usually no problem. 
More dependencies lead to more potential problems. Once you get up to 
the level where Gnome or GTK are in the mix I found them to be hit or 
miss at best. There's almost always something buried somewhere in the 
dependency tree that doesn't build out of the box. I was usually 
attempting to build gnucash, which is apparently the acid test of this 
approach, and the test failed quite often.

I also found that ports listed on the projects' web sites would often 
turn out not to actually work, so any information you find on what's 
available should be considered as potentially wrong.

They're least useable just after a major release of Mac OS X-- I've had 
to keep one Mac running an outdated version of Mac OS X at times because 
the porting projects took a while to catch up (I'd try to help with the 
updating but that's not my forte as a developer and after literally days 
of work I'd eventually give up). Similar problems can crop up after a 
major update to Apple's developer tools, which the porting projects rely 
on. Eventually I decided this was too much trouble and I mostly gave up 
on them. Gnucash has a pre-built version that I can just download and 
run with no issues, so that's what I do now.

-- 
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Independent Mac OS X developer since 2002
http://www.atomicbird.com/

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#1280

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:24:22 -0600, Tom Harrington wrote:

> In article <pan.2011.04.14.00.20.29@moria.lan>,
>  Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> Hello all,
>> 
>> Long time Linux user, just got my first iMac (21.5" version).  Quite
>> impressed so far...  Somebody told me about "Fink", website here:
>> 
>> http://www.finkproject.org/index.php?phpLang=en
>> 
>> ...and wondering what some of you experienced users think of it.  Seems
>> like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not natively
>> available on the Mac.  For instance, the 'Pan' newsreader that I am
>> fond of in Linux, would love to be able to run that on the Mac.
>> 
>> Any thoughts on this Fink thing?  Does it work well?  Thanks.
> 
> Fink was OK, and so was MacPorts. More recently I've used HomeBrew
> (https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew).
> 
> In general, how well these schemes work depend on how deep the
> dependency tree runs. Simple command line tools, usually no problem.
> More dependencies lead to more potential problems. Once you get up to
> the level where Gnome or GTK are in the mix I found them to be hit or
> miss at best. There's almost always something buried somewhere in the
> dependency tree that doesn't build out of the box. I was usually
> attempting to build gnucash, which is apparently the acid test of this
> approach, and the test failed quite often.
> 
> I also found that ports listed on the projects' web sites would often
> turn out not to actually work, so any information you find on what's
> available should be considered as potentially wrong.
> 
> They're least useable just after a major release of Mac OS X-- I've had
> to keep one Mac running an outdated version of Mac OS X at times because
> the porting projects took a while to catch up (I'd try to help with the
> updating but that's not my forte as a developer and after literally days
> of work I'd eventually give up). Similar problems can crop up after a
> major update to Apple's developer tools, which the porting projects rely
> on. Eventually I decided this was too much trouble and I mostly gave up
> on them. Gnucash has a pre-built version that I can just download and
> run with no issues, so that's what I do now.

Excellent.  Thanks for the input.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he puked on Christopher Robin.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

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#1375

On 14 Apr, 02:21, Dan C <youmustbejok...@lan.invalid> wrote:

> [...] Seems like a cool way to run some open-source apps that
> are not natively available on the Mac. [...]

All open-source POSIX-compliant applications are natively available on
the Mac, as long as you compile them yourself. Perhaps you meant "open-
source apps that are not downloadable for Mac from the developer's
website".
Anyway, I prefer MacPorts: it has many more applications, which are
updated more often.

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#1381

On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:19:04 -0700, giuseppe.on.usenet wrote:

> On 14 Apr, 02:21, Dan C <youmustbejok...@lan.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> [...] Seems like a cool way to run some open-source apps that are not
>> natively available on the Mac. [...]
> 
> All open-source POSIX-compliant applications are natively available on
> the Mac, as long as you compile them yourself. Perhaps you meant "open-
> source apps that are not downloadable for Mac from the developer's
> website".
> Anyway, I prefer MacPorts: it has many more applications, which are
> updated more often.

Yes, that is what I meant.  Thanks.


-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he put on the hockey mask and started the saw.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/
Thanks, Obama: http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/politica/thanks.jpg

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