Re: Experiences with pkgsrc on Macs?

[Michael Parson <mparson%bl.org@localhost>]

On Tue, 8 Apr 2008, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:

> How well does pkgsrc work on a Mac?  I just got one (mostly to deal
> with Word and Powerpoint files that Openoffice doesn't handle well),
> but of course need to add other software.  Should I use pkgsrc?
> Macports?  Other choices?

The last time I tried pkgsrc on the Mac, it required a case-sensitive
filesystem, which I'd done at the time, but the first couple of packages
I tried didn't work, and I didn't feel like dealing with it, so I moved
on to MacPorts and haven't looked back.

The case-sensitive filesystem requirement seems to be gone now, and I've
heard that other bits have been improved upon.

> (And, perhaps off-topic -- is there any way I can convert my exist
> file MacOS system to handle mixed case, or do I have to reinstall from
> CD?)

Format and re-install is the only option I'm aware of.  I would,
however, recommend staying with the insensitive filesystem for the
time being.  There are the occasional programs that break, many
silently, if you have a case sensitive setup.  The last one I hit upon
was the scanner driver for my Samsung all-in-one unit.  The print
driver worked fine, but I couldn't scan until I reformatted my system
case-insensitive.

--
Michael Parson
mparson%bl.org@localhost