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by emptysongglass 1306 days ago
Because Homebrew is unfortunately "the standard" and the first place a project will package for if availability for macOS is desired. As a Linux user, it's the worst package manager I've ever experienced but it is what everyone is using in my company who uses macOS (most people).
2 comments
catiopatio 1306 days ago
MacPorts is actively supported, with broad package support — and of course, pull requests for new packages are welcome.

v2.8 was just released on October 20th; changelog here: https://github.com/macports/macports-base/blob/v2.8.0/Change...

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dottedmag 1306 days ago
"pull requests for new packages are welcome" is the self-defeating answer: if you as a user have to create a PR for a package to be in MacPorts then it means that MacPorts have not attracted enough attention from the authors of the package to submit it themselves.
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pasc1878 1306 days ago
Very few package authors create packages in any packaging system. The ports are usually done by someone else often part of the package team.

e.g. who crates emacs or vim packages for debian nix etc?

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pxc 1305 days ago
In the Nix world, at least, packages are often added by people who want to use them. I think that's more common than the fulfillment of a packaging request.
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dottedmag 1305 days ago
It would be funny if the state of packaging on Linux would not be so pathetic.

If authors care about Windows they do produce Windows installers and/or publish it in their store.

If authors care about macOS, they produce .dmg or publish the app via Mac Store. Additionally they often publish it on Homebrew.

If authors care about Linux, they provide packages for Ubuntu and Fedora, and sometimes for more distros from the long tail (usually Debian comes 3rd as it is simple to add after Ubuntu).

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shepherdjerred 1306 days ago
What are your complaints?
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emptysongglass 1306 days ago
It's so slow: on the order of single digit minutes to a dozen to install a single package. It feels messy, like it's shotgunning my entire system with bits of itself (I don't know how true the reality of this is). I've not infrequently had packages simply fail to finally resolve after they did their dance of resolution. It does not inspire delight. The vibe, if you'll excuse me, is very crude cudgel.

Oh, the install location it asks you about when installing Linuxbrew is extremely odd. One choice offered is to make a dedicated brew user directory and then install there? That's terrible practice. No one else does this because it's terrible. And then the other apparently breaks a bunch of stuff and is not recommended.

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