Comment by curun1r | Hacker News Reader

Comment by curun1r | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I find it unfortunate that those two occupy the 1-2 in Mac packaging options. It never really got much attention, but I've always liked Rudix [0] better. The package selection is much worse and not really kept as up-to-date, but the installation mechanism is far superior to Homebrew and MacPorts (and even Fink). It uses actual packages (the kind that Installer.app understands) so it integrates much more cleanly with the Mac ecosystem and packages installed without using the package manager. Compared to the other options, it's an administrator's dream in a managed environment since all the first-party Apple tools for managing a fleet of Macs just work. Also, users who don't want to install the actual rudix tool can simply download the packages and install using using Installer.app (which they may never even realize they're running because it opens automatically when opening a .pkg file).

Unfortunately, most Mac users have never even heard of it and it doesn't really have the momentum or mindshare necessary to have a complete, up-to-date list of packages.

[0] https://rudix.org/

Why leave out nix? It's been a good alternative that works similarly on Linux too for unified environment.

I hate Linuxbrew when it tries to install stuff in a weird place that is /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/ and as soon as you try to change the installation path, half of your packages starts compiling and since it's not the major way to do things, it often breaks and can't even compile.

I don't like scaring other users on the same server creating stuff at some bizarre location.

No idea how they didn't just settle in /use/local/ as it does on Mac or just use /opt/brew/ like a sane choice would be.

Rudix seems interesting, so I just installed the nasm .pkg as an experiment. There are several things I don't understand yet. How is a package uninstalled? If there is an updated package, does the whole process of downloading and clicking through Installer.app have to be repeated? Also, is there an automated way to install a large selection of packages at once?

There is an actual rudix package that has install/uninstall, including for itself.

Otherwise you’re using the somewhat cumbersome process of backing out a package based on the receipt. It’s doable, but mostly requires some googling to find the correct incantation.

Can't upvote enough. Rudix is the only package manager that really meshes with the platform, instead of trying to create its own weird linux (or bsd) hybrid ecosystem. I used it heavily a decade ago, but sadly it never really took off.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com