MacPorts also installs the most common packages from precompiled binaries. Fink also has the ability (--use-binary-dist). The main difference here is that the

MacPorts also installs the most common packages from precompiled binaries. Fink also has the ability (--use-binary-dist). The main difference here is that the entire pkgsrc universe is available as precompiled binaries, which can save you a whole lot of time/CPU cycles. It could also help circumvent the "compiles fine for the package maintainer but not for me" type of errors which are often the most time consuming.