3 ms·

> I wonder if they use home-brew on mac The author specifically recommends against that and instead recommends downloading an installer from python.org.

ggm 3y ago
And for every other install, all the other sw they install on the mac? I never understand this exceptionalism. It's not a well prosecuted case frankly. So why install on debian via apt?
- f30e3dfed1c9 3y ago
  I dunno, you could take it up with the author, I suppose. Note, though, that the article is about "the bare minimum you can get away with." Also, a little more reading might have led to you this: <https://justinmayer.com/posts/homebrew-python-is-not-for-you/ https://justinmayer.com/posts/homebrew-python-is-not-for-you...>, which has a pretty good rationale for not using homebrew to install python. If you like homebrew, fine, knock yourself out. I've never cared for it and use pkgsrc on my macs.
  - ggm 3y ago
    I used pkgsrc for years on netbsd, it was fine. I did run it briefly on Mac but unwisely switched to Mac ports and then jumped to home-brew where I stopped. It may be time to reconsider. That said, it looks like a second class citizen on osx: For any particular package that doesn't build, macOS fixes are often in MacPorts or Homebrew waiting to be borrowed. Getting homebrew .rb recipes accepted and modified is tortuous, painful, but they are quite rigorously tested by the custom CI they run. (I helped with one for a bit)
    - f30e3dfed1c9 3y ago
      I don't doubt that homebrew has a greater selection of packages than pkgsrc. pkgsrc works for me, though: I don't install that much from it. But we're getting off-topic. The bitecode author's primary point is how to install python for people who just want or need to develop in python for some specific reason (thus "the bare minimum you can get away with"). Many of these people aren't professional developers or even expert users of whatever platform they're using. They just want or need python for some specific reason related to whatever their actual job is. For people like that, an answer to the question "how do I install python?" that starts with "first, install homebrew/pkgsrc/macports/pyenv/anaconda/whatever" is really not helpful. It introduces a whole bunch of unnecessary complexity and has a lot more potential points of failure than what he recommends, which is "get an installer from python.org and install that." I think he makes a good case, although you have to read more than one article at his web site to get a good sense of the complete argument.

ggm 3y ago

And for every other install, all the other sw they install on the mac? I never understand this exceptionalism. It's not a well prosecuted case frankly. So why install on debian via apt?

f30e3dfed1c9 3y ago
I dunno, you could take it up with the author, I suppose. Note, though, that the article is about "the bare minimum you can get away with." Also, a little more reading might have led to you this: <https://justinmayer.com/posts/homebrew-python-is-not-for-you/ https://justinmayer.com/posts/homebrew-python-is-not-for-you...>, which has a pretty good rationale for not using homebrew to install python. If you like homebrew, fine, knock yourself out. I've never cared for it and use pkgsrc on my macs.
- ggm 3y ago
  I used pkgsrc for years on netbsd, it was fine. I did run it briefly on Mac but unwisely switched to Mac ports and then jumped to home-brew where I stopped. It may be time to reconsider. That said, it looks like a second class citizen on osx: For any particular package that doesn't build, macOS fixes are often in MacPorts or Homebrew waiting to be borrowed. Getting homebrew .rb recipes accepted and modified is tortuous, painful, but they are quite rigorously tested by the custom CI they run. (I helped with one for a bit)
  - f30e3dfed1c9 3y ago
    I don't doubt that homebrew has a greater selection of packages than pkgsrc. pkgsrc works for me, though: I don't install that much from it. But we're getting off-topic. The bitecode author's primary point is how to install python for people who just want or need to develop in python for some specific reason (thus "the bare minimum you can get away with"). Many of these people aren't professional developers or even expert users of whatever platform they're using. They just want or need python for some specific reason related to whatever their actual job is. For people like that, an answer to the question "how do I install python?" that starts with "first, install homebrew/pkgsrc/macports/pyenv/anaconda/whatever" is really not helpful. It introduces a whole bunch of unnecessary complexity and has a lot more potential points of failure than what he recommends, which is "get an installer from python.org and install that." I think he makes a good case, although you have to read more than one article at his web site to get a good sense of the complete argument.