[R-SIG-Mac] Macports installation problem

[David Winsemius]

> On Oct 18, 2017, at 8:40 AM, Rainer Krug <rainer_krug at icloud.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> On 18 Oct 2017, at 17:17, David Winsemius <dwinsemius at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> On Oct 17, 2017, at 11:58 PM, Rainer Krug <rainer_krug at icloud.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> This is related to Macports and not to R - please post your question on their mailing list. If it would be about errors installing R, that would be different.
>>> 
>> 
>> I think using MacPorts might actually be the "error" that needs correction. I would suggest an alternate strategy. Go to http://r.research.att.com/libs/ and get the appropriate version of cairo, probably the most recent one. 
>> 
>> http://r.research.att.com/libs/cairo-1.14.2-darwin.13-x86_64.tar.gz
>> 
>> Scroll down to the bottom of that page and an appropriate modification of the two lines for unpacking to the root. 
>> 
>> curl -O http://r.research.att.com/libs/cairo-1.14.2-darwin.13-x86_64.tar.gz
>> sudo tar fvxz gmp-4.2.4-darwin8-bin4.tar.gz -C /
>> 
>> 
>> The Mac version of R does not do well with either MacPorts or homebrew installation of required system packages because those package managers put them in loaction that are not recognized by the static build that is the default.
> 
> Using homebrew (and as far as I know Macports as well) works without major problems. The problem start when you mix standard installations / homebrew / Macports. This results in problems. 

The fact that the original poster had obviously not used MacPorts (and perhaps did not even know what it was) suggests that the appropriate reply should be to discourage him from using it and offer a strategy with greater likelihood of success in combination with the more typical installation method for the Mac R fork.

> 
> So: each of the approaches has it’s own pros and cons - it is only that homebrew and Macports are not officially supported by the R team.

One of the cons is that both homebrew and MacPorts requires a greater knowledge of the Unix under-pinnings of MacOS. If a poster is asking how to install MacPorts, it suggests that he don't already have such skills and perhaps doesn't even have the motivation to acquire them. (Your earlier response suggested that posting in R-SIG-Mac was the wrong way to do acquire such skills and I agree. Appears the poster has not yet developed the habit of reading supporting online documentation. He certainly did not do so regarding R-SIG-Mac. My opinion: A person who chooses not to read or heed online documentation should be actively discouraged from using either MacPorts of homebrew.) 

Best;
David.


> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Rainer
> 
> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> David.
>> 
>>> Cheers,
>>> 
>>> Rainer
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 18 Oct 2017, at 02:36, John <miaojpm at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi,
>>>> 
>>>> I tried to install Cairo graphics
>>>> 
>>>> https://www.cairographics.org/download/
>>>> 
>>>> and I need to install Macports.
>>>> 
>>>> I tried to install Macports on my Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6, and type "sudo
>>>> port install cairo", but it did not respond. I haven't seen any file name
>>>> or app called Macports, but one file called "port" which is located at
>>>> 
>>>> loca/bin/port"
>>>> 
>>>> How should I do it?
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> 
>>>> John
>>>> *******
>>>> 
>>>> Last login: Sun Oct 15 02:52:49 on console
>>>> Johns-MacBook-Pro:~ john$ /opt/local/bin/port ; exit;
>>>> MacPorts 2.4.2
>>>> Entering shell mode... ("help" for help, "quit" to quit)
>>>> [Users/john] > sudo port install cairo
>>>> Error: Unrecognized action "port sudo"
>>>> 
>>>> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> R-SIG-Mac mailing list
>>>> R-SIG-Mac at r-project.org
>>>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-mac
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Rainer M. Krug, PhD (Conservation Ecology, SUN), MSc (Conservation Biology, UCT), Dipl. Phys. (Germany)
>>> 
>>> University of Zürich
>>> 
>>> Cell:       +41 (0)78 630 66 57
>>> email:      Rainer at krugs.de
>>> Skype:      RMkrug
>>> 
>>> PGP: 0x0F52F982
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 	[[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> R-SIG-Mac mailing list
>>> R-SIG-Mac at r-project.org
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>> 
>> David Winsemius
>> Alameda, CA, USA
>> 
>> 'Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.'   -Gehm's Corollary to Clarke's Third Law
> 
> --
> Rainer M. Krug, PhD (Conservation Ecology, SUN), MSc (Conservation Biology, UCT), Dipl. Phys. (Germany)
> 
> University of Zürich
> 
> Cell:       +41 (0)78 630 66 57
> email:      Rainer at krugs.de
> Skype:      RMkrug
> 
> PGP: 0x0F52F982
> 
> 
> 

David Winsemius
Alameda, CA, USA

'Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.'   -Gehm's Corollary to Clarke's Third Law