OT: Mac OSX newsreader Fink. Installation problems.

In my hunt for a usable newsreader for Mac OSX, I found yet another one.
I think it's called "Fink" (but it might be called "Pan". I'm not clear
about that). It's a project from Sourceforge, initially made for UNIX,
and it can be found here:
http://fink.sourceforge.net/

Thing is that it's obviously not made to be used by mere mortals as me.
It requires installation of Apple's X11 window system
<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/x11formacosx.html>, and the
add-on called X11 SDK is essential. I downloaded all that and installed.
Then I got the Fink from sourceforge, installed and used an app that
shipped with it called "FinkCommand" and found a list of files
containing something called "Pan" that is the actual newsreader. I
clicked download the "pan" and the app downloaded necessary files from
sourceforge.

But now I'm at roads end. I have read the documentation, FAQs and archives
at the Fink website, but the more I read, the more confused I get. It seems
as for every new file I install, I need to get another... :-(

This is a plea: If someone understanding stuff like this has installed
the reader (or will do within the near future) can be so kind and walk
me through the installation process step-by-step, it would be an
enomstrophogic help.

--
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Hi Dan,

I'm still learning all that stuff as well. Fink is a project to port over a
lot of *nix apps to X11 on Mac. There are tons of apps that are getting
ported over and I think that Pan is one of them. I had tried to install
Fink, but then there were compatability issues between the X11 version,
10.2.something, and some other weirdness. One day I'll figure it all out.
It's just so overwhelming, as you said.

Best regards,
Chris

Chris In Madison wrote:

Hi Dan,

I'm still learning all that stuff as well. Fink is a project to port over a
lot of *nix apps to X11 on Mac. There are tons of apps that are getting
ported over and I think that Pan is one of them. I had tried to install
Fink, but then there were compatability issues between the X11 version,
10.2.something, and some other weirdness. One day I'll figure it all out.
It's just so overwhelming, as you said.

Best regards,
Chris

"Tond of apps" is right. When I booted that FinkCommand, I got a list
with something like 1,200 programs waiting to be downloaded. As for the
compatibility issues, it's for a certain update and "..the Fink team
recommends that if you update your Developer Tools with the new patch,
you should be careful to run sudo gcc_select 3 prior to any "fink build"
or "fink install" commands." But that's about it.
I'm sure you having nothing else to do but figuring this out, so get on
with it and post your findings a.s.a.p. or mail me directly. If *I*
understand how it's working, however doubtful that actually is, I'll
keep in touch.

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
http://www.vendel.info
Contact me directly by clicking here:
http://contact.vendel.info
Formmail tutorial:
http://www.vendel.info/tut/formmail.html
Nested table demonstration:
http://www.vendel.info/tabletut/

X11 is still kind of a magic box to me. The only time I've messed with it
is in Linux, and even then it's still a magic box. With Linux, I just
installed the package and it worked, no questions asked. Probably because
Linux-is-X11-is-Linux. As for the Mac version, I'm in a fog. Problem is
I've got Apple's X11, XFree86, and OrbororX running, and I have no idea
which one takes precedence. Worse yet, I have no idea how to uninstall any
of them, so who knows... Yikes...

Best regards,
Chris

Dan Vendel *GOF* wrote:

In my hunt for a usable newsreader for Mac OSX, I found yet another one.
I think it's called "Fink" (but it might be called "Pan". I'm not clear
about that). It's a project from Sourceforge, initially made for UNIX,
and it can be found here:
http://fink.sourceforge.net/

If you installed MacOS 10's XApp then you don't need FINK, which is
basically the same thing.

Xapp allows you to run the GNU operating environment on top of Aqua,
which combined with the Apple Development libs allow you to use the host
of GNU apps that vanilla *BSD and Linux/Unix users run natively.

Once you've got the developer libs and XApp running, then you need to
install the GNU app of your choice. May I suggest you vist MacOS X Hints
website (check Google for URL), for further reading. PAN is a good
choice btw Dan, but I really don't understand why you just don't use
Thunderbird for MacOS, and not worry about GNU, it's overkill just to
get a good newsreader, and perhaps more trouble than you're willing to
invest in.

Thanks for the tip, Dag. Been a while since I was at that site. Looks like
it's time for another trip :-)

Best regards,
Chris

Dagwood Bumstead wrote:

If you installed MacOS 10's XApp then you don't need FINK, which is
basically the same thing.

Xapp allows you to run the GNU operating environment on top of Aqua,
which combined with the Apple Development libs allow you to use the host
of GNU apps that vanilla *BSD and Linux/Unix users run natively.

Once you've got the developer libs and XApp running, then you need to
install the GNU app of your choice. May I suggest you vist MacOS X Hints
website (check Google for URL), for further reading. PAN is a good
choice btw Dan, but I really don't understand why you just don't use
Thunderbird for MacOS, and not worry about GNU, it's overkill just to
get a good newsreader, and perhaps more trouble than you're willing to
invest in.

Dag,

I don't have Xapp. Actually, never heard of it (behold my ignorance). As
you probably guessed, all this is a complete mystery to me. I'm like a
new arrival on planet Schmück. So, I will abide my time and see what the
future might bring in terms of more info on the matter, perhaps more
apps I can use with Fink, and most of all, a few better tuned brain cells.

However, you could voluntarily have posted about Thunderbird before. ;-)
Never heard about that one, either. But now it's installed, and I'm
using it to post this very message. It seems to be OK. Thanks for tip!

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
http://www.vendel.info
Contact me directly by clicking here:
http://contact.vendel.info
Formmail tutorial:
http://www.vendel.info/tut/formmail.html
Nested table demonstration:
http://www.vendel.info/tabletut/

Dan Vendel *GOF* wrote:

The Firebird browser will remain foreign to me, though. I have 7-8
browsers in the Mac and 3 in the PC already, so I'm fully equipped for
the time being. Thanks anyway.

Won't you need to test your creations in it? It is going to have larger
market share than Safari you know.

Dagwood Bumstead wrote:

Won't you need to test your creations in it? It is going to have larger
market share than Safari you know.

Right, that's why I wrote "for the time being". ;-)

--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
http://www.vendel.info
Contact me directly by clicking here:
http://contact.vendel.info
Formmail tutorial:
http://www.vendel.info/tut/formmail.html
Nested table demonstration:
http://www.vendel.info/tabletut/