Fink and no X11

D

dani++

usin UNIX since '92
I'm just compiling/installing Fink on my MacOS X machine. I would like to give it a try to compile some packages (bash and some others...), as I read on the docs, Fink is a system closely related to X11.

My problem is that I really have no intention of installing X11 on my machine, can I install Fink without X11 and live happily every after?

Thanx,


dani++
 
You can easily install Fink without having to deal with X11. In fact, I did it for months. Every package, when done correctly, lists its dependencies .info files. Hence, whenever you tell it to install a package that requires another one you do not have, it tells you (and any packages that that package depends on and you do not have, and so on), and you have the option of backing out.

You will of course find that many, if not most, of the packages require an installation of X11, but the ones that don't are enough to still make Fink worth installing. Hope this helps.
 
not to be TOO vague, but, what is fink?

and where can I find resources on compiling/recompiling for OSX?
 
Fink is a way to install tools written for other Unix platforms on OS X. You can read more about it at http://fink.sourceforge.net. I think they now have a list of possible packages you can install on the website, so you can see if anything there is useful for you. The chances are good, and tons more are on their way.
 
I have installed and run Fink without having to install X11. With good results so far. However, you need to run some scripts to tweak your path so I'm not sure if any Fink-installed stuff (ncurses, for instance) can interact with non-Fink programs (a program that requires ncurses to run but is not on the Fink tree). Any thoughts?


XePeR, to install and run Fink, and in general any source-code UNIX apps, you need the developer tools and compilers. You might have them on a CD in your MacOS X box or you can download the latest version at the Apple developer site, I think you can register for free.

dani++
 
Fink installed programs work just fine with other ones. Other users may have a problem if they don't have the

source /sw/bin/init.csh

or something similar in their .cshrc file. Other than this it will work just fine.
 
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