Revolutionize Your Mac Experience: Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Linux Software with Macports

MacOS is undoubtedly one of the most popular operating systems in the world. It is fast, reliable, and comes with a plethora of features that are designed to give users the best experience. However, despite its impressive features, it still has its limitations, like the inability to run certain Linux applications. Fortunately, with the help of Macports, you can enjoy the power and flexibility of Linux software on your Mac. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of installing Linux software with Macports.

What is Macports?

Macports is an open-source package management system that simplifies the installation of Linux applications on your Mac. It allows you to install and use thousands of Linux applications in a hassle-free way. Macports is based on the ports system of FreeBSD, and it enables you to compile and install software from source code quickly. With Macports, you no longer need to worry about compatibility issues or dependencies, as it automatically handles all of them for you.

Installing Macports

Before you can install Linux software with Macports, you need to install Macports itself. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Go to the official Macports website (https://www.macports.org) and click on the “Download” button.
  2. Choose the version of Macports compatible with your version of MacOS and download the package.
  3. Once the download is complete, double-click on the downloaded package to begin the installation process.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Macports.

Installing Linux Software with Macports

Now that you have installed Macports let’s move on to installing Linux software on your Mac. Here is how to do it:

  1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac. You can find Terminal in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  2. Type “sudo port selfupdate” and press Enter. This command updates Macports to the latest version.
  3. Now, to search for the Linux software, you want to install, type “sudo port search [application name].” For example, if you want to install Python, type “sudo port search python.”
  4. From the list of search results, choose the version of the application you want to install, and make a note of its name.
  5. Now, to install the application, type “sudo port install [application name].” For example, if you want to install Python, type “sudo port install python.”
  6. Macports will now download, compile, and install the application along with any dependencies it needs.

Conclusion

Installing Linux software on a MacOS device may seem like a daunting task, but with the help of Macports, it’s a breeze. Macports provides a simple way to install and use Linux applications on your Mac without worrying about compatibility issues or dependencies. So, if you’re looking to take your Mac experience to the next level, give Macports a try, and you’ll never look back!

MacPorts is a command-line package manager for macOS. If you’re familiar with apt-get or yum from Linux, then you know what a package manager does. It handles downloading, installing, updating and managing certain applications and their dependencies within macOS. With MacPorts you can install Linux applications on macOS from the command line.

What can I install?

Most of these applications are open-source, command-line utilities, but there are a fair share of “real” open-source, GUI-based applications. as well.

Like any package manager, MacPorts searches a library of downloadable software. When you find what you need, MacPorts downloads and installs the appropriate software and dependencies in the right place. This saves you the trouble of downloading repositories from GitHub and building software from source packages while still getting access to a wide range of Linux’s best command-line tools and GUI applications.

If you read our post on Homebrew, you know that macOS is missing some “standard” Linux terminal commands out of the box. Mac users won’t find common command-line tools like nmap or wget, and there’s no native package manager on the Mac to provide them. You can also use MacPorts to install open-source software like GIMP.

Installing MacPorts

MacPorts requires the latest version of Xcode for your OS version. You can download Xcode from the Mac App Store or Apple’s developer website.

While you can run most of the MacPort commands without Xcode, you won’t be able to run many of the packages until you install it.

Installing Xcode Developer Tools

  1. Open Terminal and use the command below to trigger the installation of macOS’ developer tools:

  2. Click “Install” in the pop-up box.

  3. Wait for the files to download and install.

Installing the MacPorts Package

If you already have the Xcode and the developer tools installed, you can jump right to this step.

  1. Download the latest release of MacPorts from GitHub. Make sure you scroll down to choose the version that matches your version of macOS. At the time of publication, there is no version of MacPorts for Apple’s newest OS, High Sierra.

  2. Install the package from your Downloads folder.

  3. Open a new Terminal window and run the command port.

If that command returns “MacPorts 2.4.1” and provides a slightly different-looking command prompt, then you’re ready to rock!

Install Linux Apps with MacPorts

To install some Linux apps on macOS with MacPorts, we will first need to search for the relevant programs.

  1. To see a gigantic list of all available packages, open Terminal, type port list and press Enter.

  2. Obviously, that’s a lot to look through. We can use the port search command to find something specific. Let’s search for nmap using the command below:

  3. That returns a few matching packages. The first one, just called “nmap,” is the one we’re looking for.

  4. To get more information about that package we can use the info command:

  5. That returns some specific information about nmap. That all looks good, so we can install with the command below:

Note the sudo prefix which will require your admin password to fire.

  1. Depending on the package you’re installing, there might be a large list of dependencies. These are software packages that your desired port relies on, and you’ll need to install them alongside your port of choice. Type “Y” and press “Enter” to accept the installation.

  2. When the installation is complete, you can run the command as you would on Linux via Terminal.

Conclusion

MacPorts is a powerful package manager that will connect you to a huge array of open-source binaries and applications that you can download and install on demand. If you want to learn more of the application’s commands, you can check out the MacPorts Guide for more information.

Alexander Fox is a tech and science writer based in Philadelphia, PA with one cat, three Macs and more USB cables than he could ever use.

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