Compiling - under OS X vs. under Slackware

[ksignorini]

A question:

I used Slackware for years and never had any trouble compiling or installing any *nix type software. I got source files off of sourceforge and ./configur-ed and make-ed my way through hundreds of programs--never a problem. I even got using Slackware's developer's tools for making slackballs (called protopkg--it watched you compile an application from source, then made a tarball of all the changes the make compile/make install made).

Is there a site somewhere that can tell me, succinctly, what I need to know about compiling apps from source on OS X? I do not want to use Fink or any other ports collection--I want to compile from source--but I am sure that it will not work as easily as it did in Slackware (I have tried compiling some apps from source already and experienced some problems).

I am hoping there is a single resource that can make suggestions/porting pitfalls, etc. and things to look out for/change in source to make them compile properly.

Please help.

Thanks,
Kent!

 

[slur]

Hmm, take a look at StepWise and Apple's Unix Page for a start.

 

[bluehz]

Even though you don't want to use Fink (which I highly recommend), the Fink site still has some good info about porting... so you might take a look at that. Without Fink - I think you will find compiling standard Unix code rather frustrating. I run Slackware as a server here, and also used to manually compile OS X software. I had a good bit of luck with it - but spent a lot of time troubleshooting failed compiles, dependecies, etc. Started using Fink and now get painless, easy compiles.