HowTo:GNUOSX

Quit awhile ago, Apple switched to BSD's kernel and libraries for the guts of its OSX. This means that you can already access the Unix terminal from the Utilities folder. Newer versions (like 10.8 here) are making some of those developer-friendly features harder to find - so let's briefly summarize how to get them back.


 * 1) Start with basic Apple setup: mail, calendar and sync.  These are pretty easy due to their large user base.
 * 2) * To get multiple workspaces, you have to click the "+" on the top right of the "Mission Control" screen.
 * 3) Install the XCode package - https://developer.apple.com/xcode/
 * 4) * word has it that Starting with Xcode 4.3 - you must now manually install command line tools from Xcode menu > Preferences > Downloads
 * 5) * Apple is working hard to update the compiler toolchain by rewriting the monolithic GCC into a programming-language friendly LLVM framework with the CLANG compiler, so you'll see that GCC dependence is shrinking and LLVM is installed.
 * 6) * or, just install the cmd line to begin:
 * 7) * or directly at
 * 8) ** this can be installed without the giant XCode IDE, but some fink packages won't work (sic)
 * 9) Install gfortran following the instructions at:
 * 10) * Use the CRAN mirror at:
 * 11) * I've found this package to work well.
 * 12) * It says not to use the compilers from HPC...
 * 13) Install X11 using XQuartz  - or find the link through Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> X11
 * 14) Now you're ready to install a package manager.  I recommend Fink,[fink.sf.net] since it's based on Debian's dpkg system, the packages are easy to make, and I've made a few of them too.
 * 15) See Some Productive Programs for useful GNU software.
 * 16) Don't forget TexShop , Keynote, and Pages for papers, presentations, and posters.
 * 17) * Just drag TexShop to the Applications Folder.
 * 18) * Apple and MS software is available from the Library computer support desk here at USF
 * 19) * These often work much better than the port of Powerpoint because of the slowness of MS font rendering on the Mac.