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I might try MacPorts again next time I do a fresh OS install. Last time I used it was back in the mid-late 2000s, before my technical capabilities were decent

I might try MacPorts again next time I do a fresh OS install. Last time I used it was back in the mid-late 2000s, before my technical capabilities were decent (could only barely write code and was basically clueless about the GNU toolchain and the like) and at that point, MacPorts packages were frequently broken and would sometimes remain that way for long stretches of time, with the only fixes being manually applied local patches (if they existed at all). It was very frustrating, and so when Homebrew came around and packages generally "just worked" I was an instant convert. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of other people who were newbies during that time span have similar stories.

kergonath 4y ago
> MacPorts packages were frequently broken and would sometimes remain that way for long stretches of time, with the only fixes being manually applied local patches (if they existed at all) That was my experience as well a couple of years ago, with some quite painful OS transitions. Still, I’ve been using it for I think a decade now, and I cannot remember any problem in the last 4 years or so. It does not have everything as Homebrew is the cool kid and cool devs do not care about anything else, but it is solid. And last time I looked it had a much more sensible way of working than brew and a better security model, even if it leads to some duplication in the installed packages.