I'd agree. I started using Slackware only in 2001 and installing to /usr/local just seems like the best way to handle application software that isn't required b

I'd agree. I started using Slackware only in 2001 and installing to /usr/local just seems like the best way to handle application software that isn't required by the system. Since Fink got relatively abandoned, I've been using macports and have not gone back to using Fink. Macports is very useful to me for just able all 3rd party software that is unix-y and exclusively an app. The only thing I use homebrew for is cocoapods. I had a bad experience with homebrew when it first came out using, and I've been leery of it since.