Hi all, I've been spending the last few months geeking out on some web app development technologies that I've been meaning to bone up on for some time now. Naturally, using OS X as my development platform, this has led to me needing to figure out how to compile and install open source software on my Mac.
Here's my problem. I am currently running Tiger, and want to upgrade to Leopard. How does this work with UNIX? Applications that are installed on Windows or OS X typically tend to work just fine after most upgrades, but then again, they are precompiled.
1. Will my Leopard install render my open source installs invalid, even if I manage to keep the directories they were installed into?
2. If so, is there a recommended procedure for installing UNIX software that might help me avoid this problem in the future (i.e. installing to a specific directory that is not overwritten during OSX upgrades)?
3. Do most of you keep a master directory for the source code of all your downloaded open source software, so that you can recompile and install when necessary? If not, how do you keep track of what's been installed?
4. How do I avoid conflicts with the base OSX versions of some of these software packages? For instance, I tried updating Apache and Mysql by compiling and installing the latest source for these packages, but ended up making a mess of it and installing MAMP instead. Package managers like Fink and Mac Ports are cool, but I would rather get a real understanding of how UNIX software installation is supposed to work, and install it myself.
5. Any good resources on the web for this stuff? I haven't been able to track anything substantial down that doesn't involve using a package manager.
Thanks so much for any input.
-C
Here's my problem. I am currently running Tiger, and want to upgrade to Leopard. How does this work with UNIX? Applications that are installed on Windows or OS X typically tend to work just fine after most upgrades, but then again, they are precompiled.
1. Will my Leopard install render my open source installs invalid, even if I manage to keep the directories they were installed into?
2. If so, is there a recommended procedure for installing UNIX software that might help me avoid this problem in the future (i.e. installing to a specific directory that is not overwritten during OSX upgrades)?
3. Do most of you keep a master directory for the source code of all your downloaded open source software, so that you can recompile and install when necessary? If not, how do you keep track of what's been installed?
4. How do I avoid conflicts with the base OSX versions of some of these software packages? For instance, I tried updating Apache and Mysql by compiling and installing the latest source for these packages, but ended up making a mess of it and installing MAMP instead. Package managers like Fink and Mac Ports are cool, but I would rather get a real understanding of how UNIX software installation is supposed to work, and install it myself.
5. Any good resources on the web for this stuff? I haven't been able to track anything substantial down that doesn't involve using a package manager.
Thanks so much for any input.
-C
