On Dec 11, 2010, at 7:49 AM, Tina K. wrote:
I've read the FAQ on the Fink project but I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly it is. Is it an operating environment a la Java, or an emulator like Virtual Box or Wine? Is it strictly a repository of ported apps with apt-get functionality, and if so why use apt-get instead of normal OS X installation? Or is it something else entirely?
The apt-get and underlying dpkg tools are taken from the Debian project. I imagine they're used because they're the best tools available for managing package dependencies. Open source Unix programs frequently rely on libraries shared with many other programs, and sophisticated dependency tracking is required to keep it all straight. Mac OS X doesn't provide a means to list installed packages, check for new versions, select one to upgrade, or upgrade all at once, and keep dependencies up-to-date at the same time, whereas dpkg/apt-get do all of that. The closest analogue is Software Update, which is a decent app but only works on system software. So every other app either includes its own update mechanism (or shares one, like Sparkle) or doesn't provide one at all, requiring manual installation by the user.
Also has anyone had any positive or negative experiences with Fink?
I tried Fink on my first OS X installation (Panther). Since Fink has a much smaller set of package maintainers than Debian, the available versions tend to lag behind. These days, when I want to use a Unix program on OS X, I download the source code and build it myself.
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