MacPorts install guide and Xcode dependency

Joshua Root jmr at macports.org
Tue Apr 4 01:26:05 UTC 2023


On 4/4/2023 10:49, contextnerror wrote:
> Currently guide.macports.org tells new users to download a full install of Xcode before installing MacPorts. While some ports do require this, most ports still work with just a copy of the command line tools. Should a CLT installation be the recommended method now?

The recommendation is Xcode + CLTs because that gives the highest chance 
that things will Just Work. As you note, you might be fine with just the 
CLTs. You also might be fine with neither if everything you install 
happens to be available as a binary archive.

It's fine to expand the explanations in the Guide to cover these 
complexities, as long as care is taken in how the information is 
presented. We don't want readers to take away a misleading summary like 
"The CLTs are all you need."

- Josh


More information about the macports-dev mailing list