I’ve just invested several hours trying to get my system to use the Pear libraries from MacPorts rather than the Pear libraries I had installed years ago using the command line installer, as described here. This is largely because I’m happy to let the MacPorts package manager take care of upgrading my software, and making sure all inter-dependencies are looked after.
The command line installer adds files to the traditional /usr/local directory, while the MacPorts package manager adds the files to /opt/local.
And from there, troubles arose. Read more…
Tabula Quasi-Rasa, Tutorials MacPorts, Pear, PHP, system administration
Unix. It’s astonishingly flexible. This is, at different times, either wonderful or maddening. Sometimes even both at once.
Because of the flexibility it offers, there are several ways a particular enhancement or customization can be added to the system, and you are free to pick the one that best suits your needs or preference. The ensuing burden of this flexibility, however, becomes a responsibility on your end to mind just how you added each enhancement or customization, in case you later need to adjust it.
While you’re naturally free not to track such details, this practice guarantees that you’ll spend as much time trying to “re-figure-out” that clever enhancement or customization you figured out how to apply in your own special way.
History has taught me that any of these clever enhancements and customizations will eventually need revisiting. It’s inevitable… like destiny, except less romantic.
Read more…
Tabula Quasi-Rasa system administration
