I have an old IMac that has been out of service for a long time and just
dug it out to see if there is anything I can do with it, so I thought
I'd try the Unix shell, Fink.


Since my Mac will not run anything past OSX 10.7.5 I had to use an older version of Fink 0.32 and Xcode 4.1.


As soon as I run bootstrap, when it goes to fetch packages, most are
missing. I have tried many different mirrors with no luck.


Does anyone know of any mirrors still maintain this older version of Fink?


If not, is there a version of Fink still maintained that will run on
10.7.5 ?

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On 2021-10-12, philo <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

I have an old IMac that has been out of service for a long time and just
dug it out to see if there is anything I can do with it, so I thought
I'd try the Unix shell, Fink.

Since my Mac will not run anything past OSX 10.7.5 I had to use an older version of Fink 0.32 and Xcode 4.1.

As soon as I run bootstrap, when it goes to fetch packages, most are
missing. I have tried many different mirrors with no luck.

Does anyone know of any mirrors still maintain this older version of Fink?

If not, is there a version of Fink still maintained that will run on
10.7.5 ?

As a long-time Fink user I hate to say this, but from the outside it
appears that Fink is in a constant hospice situation. Much of its
volunteer community has drifted away to other projects, leaving those
few left with the task of keeping the old thing soft of alive.

High Sierra and Mojave users are barely able to update some of their
packages. On the newer end of things, Big Sur is barely supported, and
can run Fink only through a series of independent hacks. With Monterey
coming out pretty soon, none of this looks good for Fink's future.

On the brighter side, I have an old plastic MacBook that can't run
anything higher than El Capitan. I installed a full version of Linux on
an external USB drive, and it runs quite well in that environment, while
still allowing the MacBook to boot into macOS when needed. Hold down the
Option key at Startup to select which environment you'd like that day.

Or... if your old version of macOS is no longer useful to you, you can
ditch it, and go straight Linux on your internal drive.

--
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You're better off replying to this newsgroup.

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In article <sk41p5$975$1@dont-email.me>, philo <philo@privacy.net>
wrote:

I have an old IMac that has been out of service for a long time and just
dug it out to see if there is anything I can do with it, so I thought
I'd try the Unix shell, Fink.

fink is not a unix shell.

fink is a package manager and not needed to use a mac.

Since my Mac will not run anything past OSX 10.7.5 I had to use an older version of Fink 0.32 and Xcode 4.1.

that sounds like a 2006 imac.

As soon as I run bootstrap, when it goes to fetch packages, most are
missing. I have tried many different mirrors with no luck.

Does anyone know of any mirrors still maintain this older version of Fink?

If not, is there a version of Fink still maintained that will run on
10.7.5 ?

what are you trying to do that requires fink?

another option is macports. yet another option is build it yourself.

or just use mac native apps.

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On 12-Oct-2021 at 2:03:53PM PDT, "Chris Schram" <chrispam1@me.com> wrote:

On 2021-10-12, philo <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

I have an old IMac that has been out of service for a long time and just
dug it out to see if there is anything I can do with it, so I thought
I'd try the Unix shell, Fink.


Since my Mac will not run anything past OSX 10.7.5 I had to use an older
version of Fink 0.32 and Xcode 4.1.


As soon as I run bootstrap, when it goes to fetch packages, most are
missing. I have tried many different mirrors with no luck.


Does anyone know of any mirrors still maintain this older version of Fink? >>

If not, is there a version of Fink still maintained that will run on
10.7.5 ?

As a long-time Fink user I hate to say this, but from the outside it
appears that Fink is in a constant hospice situation. Much of its
volunteer community has drifted away to other projects, leaving those
few left with the task of keeping the old thing soft of alive.

High Sierra and Mojave users are barely able to update some of their packages. On the newer end of things, Big Sur is barely supported, and
can run Fink only through a series of independent hacks. With Monterey
coming out pretty soon, none of this looks good for Fink's future.

On the brighter side, I have an old plastic MacBook that can't run
anything higher than El Capitan. I installed a full version of Linux on
an external USB drive, and it runs quite well in that environment, while still allowing the MacBook to boot into macOS when needed. Hold down the Option key at Startup to select which environment you'd like that day.

Or... if your old version of macOS is no longer useful to you, you can
ditch it, and go straight Linux on your internal drive.

It's good to know that the life of my 2009 MacPro has a possible afterlife if
I should decide to move to Linux. It's quite beefie and short of a logic board replacement, I don't plan on moving to another desktop system in to
foreseeable future.
--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...

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On 2021-10-12, philo <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

I have an old IMac that has been out of service for a long time and just
dug it out to see if there is anything I can do with it, so I thought
I'd try the Unix shell, Fink.

You mean the package manager, Fink.

Since my Mac will not run anything past OSX 10.7.5 I had to use an older version of Fink 0.32 and Xcode 4.1.

Are you avoiding the most popular package managers Homebrew and MacPorts
for a reason? Both work fine in older versions of macOS, including 10.7:

<https://brew.sh>
<https://macports.org>

I have used Homebrew for many years, and it's great.

I recommend installing it into your home directory rather than using the standard installer. Doing this avoids running it as root, and is a
simple process as documented in the "Untar anywhere" section here:

<https://docs.brew.sh/Installation#untar-anywhere>

I typically install it into a hidden ~/.homebrew directory with:

git clone https://github.com/Homebrew/brew ~/.homebrew
eval "$(~/.homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
brew update --force --quiet
chmod -R go-w "$(brew --prefix)/share/zsh"

You'll want to add the Homebrew bin directory to your path as well:

# cat ~/.zshrc | grep homebrew
export PATH=~/.homebrew/bin:$PATH

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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Thanks for the info.
I will look into this tomorrow.

I mostly use Linux on my PC but figured I might as well see what I can do with this iMac.

I've already ditched Chrome and have installed Arctic Fox.
I can now get into most websites I could not previously access

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In message <sk41p5$975$1@dont-email.me> philo <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

If not, is there a version of Fink still maintained that will run on
10.7.5 ?

I doubt very much you are going to find a 10 year old repo of fink
packages. You may have better luck with Macports? I don't know if
Homebrew was on 10.7 or not.

--
I AM ZOMBOR! (kelly) ZOMBOR!

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When I get my iMac back on the bench, im going to delete Fink and try ports. The machine had been in storage for a long time and I saw that years ago I had downloaded Fink but never installed it...so I was now starting up where I left off.

Right now I have an 8086 IBM 8525 on the bench with a 720 meg 3.5" floppy drive.
I found a NOS box of 720 meg floppies and doggone it...they are still good, so I was able to get some data off the machine.

Nothing of real interest but a fun challenge.

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On 2021-10-13, philo <philo@news.novabbs.com> wrote:

When I get my iMac back on the bench, im going to delete Fink and try
ports. The machine had been in storage for a long time and I saw that
years ago I had downloaded Fink but never installed it...so I was now starting up where I left off.

Just out of curiosity, what made you choose MacPorts over Homebrew?

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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On 10/12/21 8:15 AM, philo wrote:

I have an old IMac that has been out of service for a long time and just
dug it out to see if there is anything I can do with it, so I thought
I'd try the Unix shell, Fink.

Since my Mac will not run anything past OSX 10.7.5 I had to use an older version of Fink 0.32 and Xcode 4.1.

As soon as I run bootstrap, when it goes to fetch packages, most are
missing. I have tried many different mirrors with no luck.

Does anyone know of any mirrors still maintain this older version of Fink?

If not, is there a version of Fink still maintained that will run on
10.7.5 ?

OK Fink deleted, tried Mac Ports and though I do not yet have the
Xserver installed, I already have my old favorite file manager "MC"
installed.

I think I will now have a use for my old Imac.

Thanks to all who helped.

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No particular reason but I'm going to try Homebrew next.

Though Ports worked out better than Fink and I was able to install some packages, with other packages, I got the message that it could not be installed due to such and such folder not existing.

I confirmed the needed folder was there.

So...I guess I will try Homebrew next.

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On 10/13/21 11:38 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:

On 2021-10-13, philo <philo@news.novabbs.com> wrote:

When I get my iMac back on the bench, im going to delete Fink and try
ports. The machine had been in storage for a long time and I saw that
years ago I had downloaded Fink but never installed it...so I was now
starting up where I left off.

Just out of curiosity, what made you choose MacPorts over Homebrew?

Finally got back to my machine. Homebrew will not install.

my OS is 10.7.5 which is says is too old.


My machine will not go above 10.7.5


I Googled to see if there was a version for my machine.

Every such instruction I've found also failed.

Looks like I will be staying with Ports

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On 2021-10-15, philo <philo@privacy.not> wrote:

On 10/13/21 11:38 AM, Jolly Roger wrote:

On 2021-10-13, philo <philo@news.novabbs.com> wrote:

When I get my iMac back on the bench, im going to delete Fink and try
ports. The machine had been in storage for a long time and I saw that
years ago I had downloaded Fink but never installed it...so I was now
starting up where I left off.

Just out of curiosity, what made you choose MacPorts over Homebrew?

Finally got back to my machine. Homebrew will not install.

my OS is 10.7.5 which is says is too old.

I was wondering about that. Thanks for reporting back.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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In message <skankl$frs$1@dont-email.me> philo <philo@privacy.not> wrote:

Looks like I will be staying with Ports

If you want to avoid confusion, it is MacPorts, not "Ports"

--
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so, Brain, but Madonna's stock is sinking."

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I also switched from Fink to Homebrew many years ago. Very much worth
the (little) effort it takes.

Homebrew 'runs' as the user having installed it but requires for
installation (some) sudo access.

Which I find acceptable.

el

On 2021-10-13 01:37 , Jolly Roger wrote:
[...]

I have used Homebrew for many years, and it's great.

I recommend installing it into your home directory rather than using
the standard installer. Doing this avoids running it as root, and is
a simple process as documented in the "Untar anywhere" section here:

[...]

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