Cheryl, Thanks for this. I should have read further. The end about the .profile was not made clear in the instructions. I created my sudo pass word by enabling root and creating a password for it in directory access under utilities.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Cheryl Homiak" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS Xby theblind" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 11:02 AM Subject: Re: unpacking a darwin port I haven't been following this thread, but it's my understanding that Mac ports is just Darwinports renamed and further developed. There's a dmg file on the macports site that makes it very simple to install; it works just like most other installers; open the .dmg file and follow the instructions; can't remember if you have to open an installer file inside or not but you should see it when you open the .dmg file. I'm sure there are instructions on the website and/or in the .dmg file but the basic format to install a port is: sudo port install with the name of the package you want. But packages have different variants so you should read the documentation about that. For instance, if you want lynx with ssl you should do sudo port install lynx +ssl To upgrade everything you have installed, you do: sudo port upgrade installed If you get an error about the port command not being found, it's because you don't have /opt/local/bin in your path. You can either type the full path every time or put a line in your .profile in your home directorye (note the dot; you might have to create it): PATH="$PATH:/opt/local/bin" This adds /opt/local/bin to your path but if you have a package in /bin /or /usr/bin by the same name as one in /opt/local/bin you'd have to type the whole path to make sure you get the one in /opt/local/bin where all Darwinports/Macports packages are located. I think in the documentation it tells you how to do a full path in our /etc/profile or home directory .profile with /opt/local/bin at the front so those packages get used by default. You also need a password for sudo and I'm sorry but you'll have to check the documentation for this because I don't remember at the moment how I did this. I did it once on my first machine and it has always been migrated with my settings into new machines. Hth.
