C'mon though - you need to meet people half way and read a little. From the Github README (http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/ http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/):

C'mon though - you need to meet people half way and read a little. From the Github README (http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/ http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/): Here's why you may prefer Homebrew to the alternatives: Zero configuration installation Copy the contents of this directory to /usr/local. Homebrew is now ready for use. Or… install anywhere! You can actually stick this directory anywhere. Like ~/.local or /opt or /lol if you like. You can even move this directory somewhere else later. Homebrew never changes any files outside of its prefix. The GoboLinux approach Packages are installed into their own prefix (eg. /usr/local/Cellar/wget) and then symlinked into the Homebrew prefix (eg. /usr/local). This way the filesystem is the package database and packages can be managed with existing command line tools. For example, you can uninstall with rm -rf, list with find, query with du. It also means you can install multiple versions of software or libraries and switch on demand. Of course, you don't have to do anything by hand, we also provide a convenient and fully-featured four-letter tool called brew. You don't have to sudo It's up to you. Create new package descriptions in seconds Package descriptions (formula) are simple Ruby scripts. Generate a template with: brew create http://foo.com/tarball-0.8.9.tgz Or edit an existing formula: brew edit foo Package descriptions not required MacPorts doesn't support the beta version? Need an older version? Need custom compile flags? The Homebrew tool-chain is carefully segregated so you can build stuff by hand but still end up with package management. Just install to the Cellar and then call brew link to symlink that installation into your PATH, eg. ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/wget/1.10 make install brew ln wget Or Homebrew can figure out the prefix: ./configure `brew diy` cmake . `brew diy` Optimization We optimize for (Snow) Leopard Intel, binaries are stripped, compile flags are tuned to your exact Mac model. Slow software sucks. Making the most of OS X A touch of RubyCocoa, a cheeky sysctl query or two and a smattering of FSEvent monitoring. In these manic days of cross-platform development, it's can be a welcome relief to use something that is better because it isn't too generalized. No duplication MacPorts is an autarky -- you get a duplicate copy of zlib, OpenSSL, Python, etc. Homebrew uses what is already there, and consequently, most stuff has zero dependencies and builds faster. We resist packaging stuff that is already packaged. So we have a wiki page that describes how best to use RubyGems, Pip (or easy_install) and CPAN with OS X and Homebrew. Fork with Git The formula are all on git, so just fork to add new packages, or add extra remotes to get packages from more exotic maintainers. Surfing the cutting edge If the package provides a git://, svn://, cvs:// or hg:// url you can choose to install that instead and then update as often as you like.