MacPorts
Encyclopedia
MacPorts, formerly called DarwinPorts, is a package management system
that simplifies the installation of software on the Mac OS X
and Darwin
operating systems. It is a free
/open source software project to simplify installation of other free/open source software. Similar in aim and function to Fink
and the BSDs' ports collection
s, DarwinPorts was started in 2002 as part of the OpenDarwin project, with the involvement of a number of Apple Inc. employees including Landon Fuller, Kevin Van Vechten, and Jordan Hubbard
.
It allows the installation of a number of packages by entering the command sudo port install packagename in the Terminal
, which will then download, compile and install the requested software, while also installing any required dependencies automatically. Installed packages can be updated with the command sudo port selfupdate.
On April 28, 2005, the project released version 1.0 of their software. In December 2005, the project reached a milestone, passing 3000 ports. In August 2010, MacPorts version 1.9.1 surpassed 7000 ports. As of August 2011 MacPorts version 2.0.1 has over 8300 ports.
MacPorts is currently hosted on Mac OS Forge, an open source hosting service created and maintained by Apple Inc. for third-party projects not supported by Apple. Best-effort support can be sourced from the community, as for any open source project.
MacPorts supports compiling "universal" binaries for both PowerPC and Intel-based versions of MacOS, but migrating from a PowerPC installation of MacPorts to a version on an Intel Mac may require re-compiling all installed ports.
For users preferring a graphical configuration interface over the command line, a program named Porticus can be used to issue port commands from a GUI.
Package management system
In software, a package management system, also called package manager, is a collection of software tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages for a computer's operating system in a consistent manner...
that simplifies the installation of software on the Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and Darwin
Darwin (operating system)
Darwin is an open source POSIX-compliant computer operating system released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of code developed by Apple, as well as code derived from NeXTSTEP, BSD, and other free software projects....
operating systems. It is a free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
/open source software project to simplify installation of other free/open source software. Similar in aim and function to Fink
Fink
The Fink project is an effort to port and package open-source Unix programs to Mac OS X. Fink uses dpkg and APT , as well as its own frontend program, fink ....
and the BSDs' ports collection
Ports collection
Ports collections are the sets of makefiles and patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages...
s, DarwinPorts was started in 2002 as part of the OpenDarwin project, with the involvement of a number of Apple Inc. employees including Landon Fuller, Kevin Van Vechten, and Jordan Hubbard
Jordan Hubbard
Jordan K. Hubbard is a long-time open source developer, authoring software like the Ardent Window Manager and various other open source tools and libraries before finally co-founding the FreeBSD project. He started the FreeBSD project in 1993 with Nate Williams and Rodney W. Grimes, also creating...
.
It allows the installation of a number of packages by entering the command sudo port install packagename in the Terminal
Terminal (application)
Terminal is a terminal emulator included in Apple's Mac OS X operating system. It originated in Mac OS X's predecessors, NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, and allows the user to interact with the computer through a command line interface. By default it provides a bash shell, which allows the OS X user to...
, which will then download, compile and install the requested software, while also installing any required dependencies automatically. Installed packages can be updated with the command sudo port selfupdate.
On April 28, 2005, the project released version 1.0 of their software. In December 2005, the project reached a milestone, passing 3000 ports. In August 2010, MacPorts version 1.9.1 surpassed 7000 ports. As of August 2011 MacPorts version 2.0.1 has over 8300 ports.
MacPorts is currently hosted on Mac OS Forge, an open source hosting service created and maintained by Apple Inc. for third-party projects not supported by Apple. Best-effort support can be sourced from the community, as for any open source project.
MacPorts supports compiling "universal" binaries for both PowerPC and Intel-based versions of MacOS, but migrating from a PowerPC installation of MacPorts to a version on an Intel Mac may require re-compiling all installed ports.
For users preferring a graphical configuration interface over the command line, a program named Porticus can be used to issue port commands from a GUI.
See also
- FinkFinkThe Fink project is an effort to port and package open-source Unix programs to Mac OS X. Fink uses dpkg and APT , as well as its own frontend program, fink ....
- HomebrewHomebrew (package management software)Homebrew is a package management system that simplifies the installation of software on the Mac OS X operating system. It is a free/open source software project to simplify installation of other free/open source software. It is similar in aim and function to MacPorts and Fink...