[R-SIG-Mac] Macports installation problem

[David Winsemius]

> On Oct 19, 2017, at 11:33 PM, Rainer Krug <rainer_krug at icloud.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> On 19 Oct 2017, at 20:25, Robert Baer <rbaer at atsu.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> -- snip --
>> 
>>>>> 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 /
>> Even though its not my question, I appreciate the specific recommendations on best practices for move ahead.
>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 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.
>> I  am brand new to this list, but have been using R since about 2000.  The reason I'm here is to translate Mac-speak like "homebrew" and "MacPorts" into grounded advice that lets me use R as effectively on my new Mac as my Windows and Linux machines. 
> 
> If you know your way around in Linux, I would suggest looking into homebrew - it essentially brings the approach of apt (in the case of debian) to a Mac. If not, you might be better off with the official R installers. But all work equally after installed.

Dear Rainer;

I think it might be a bit more complicated than "just use the same installer all the time", but am not a user of either homebrew or MacPorts so am speaking only from reports I have read in this mailing list and SO. Bob Rudis whom I also respect in such matters has several times made the same suggestion. I think there may need to be supplemental instructions on setting system environment variables and also possibly further changes to Makevars files in some packages being obtained from CRAN or BioC. I have been encouraged by others to switch to homebrew, but have never found a sufficiently complete tutorial that appeared to cover these other issues. If you know of one, Rainer, I think you should share it.

Best;
David.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Rainer
> 
> 
>> I appreciate John's predicament and this approach to answering his question is highly informative to me as I lurk and learn.   Thanks from this newbie Mac user.
>> 
>> -- 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Robert W. Baer, Ph.D.
>> Professor of Physiology
>> Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
>> A T Still University of Health Sciences
>> 800 W. Jefferson St
>> Kirksville, MO 63501
>> 660-626-2321 Department
>> 660-626-2965 FAX
>> 
> 
> --
> 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