It can use /usr/local - and you can set it up so that /usr/local comes before the rest of your system as you need to. Yes, an entirely self-contained sandbox av

It can use /usr/local - and you can set it up so that /usr/local comes before the rest of your system as you need to. Yes, an entirely self-contained sandbox avoids this, but most of the time, I don't want that. Like I said in a previous comment, most of the time I'd find myself compiling things by hand into /usr/local anyway. Please! Use the system's provided libraries. If I need something newer, I'll brew install it myself. For me homebrew strikes a good balance between "compile it myself, damn it" and Macports/Fink. The formula are easy to hack and update (it's simple), and for the most part it just gets ourt of your way.