Is "MacPort" a valid term?

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Jun 24, 2008, at 21:21, Zav Public wrote:

> What are these ports?  What do they constitute?  Is there a term that
> can define them?

They are software packages. I can't think of a more specific term  
that would still apply to all ports.

MacPorts is a package manager, or a package management system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_management_system

So we could say we install packages. Instead, for now, we say we  
install ports, because the term "port" is used by the FreeBSD ports  
project which inspired MacPorts. This causes confusion with other  
uses of the word "port" (a software network connection; a physical  
connector on an electronic device; the process of rewriting software  
from one platform so it runs on another). However, the term "package"  
would also cause confusion on Mac OS X, because Apple uses the term  
"package" for software installed through its Installer program, and  
MacPorts does not make use of this.

> If so, then I propose Mac-whatever-ports where whatever is the term
> that most appropriately describes what they would be and could be
> understandable by the layperson.
>
> Something palatable, steering away from the GNU practice of "the
> abbreviation is part of the name" which leads to strangeness in
> project names.  Really, it does.

Agreed, recursive acronyms are of the "cute but stupid" variety which  
certainly confuse the average computer user of today.

> If these are open source ports and they were last time I checked,
> then we may have:
>
> Open source Mac Ports
>
> The Open Source MacPorts Project.
>
> Open Source Ports for the Mac.
>
> Mac Open Source Ports.
>
> Open Mac Ports.
>
> MacPorts OpenSource.
>
> And so on.

Most of the ports we have are open source, true, but some are not.  
For example, the oracle-instantclient port installs freely available  
libraries for connecting with Oracle databases, but Oracle  
Corporation does not make the source of their software public. The  
isightcapture port installs a tool with which you can snap a picture  
from your iSight camera, but its source is not available either.  
These ports install from binaries provided by the developer. We  
prefer to build from source, but when it's not available, binaries  
can be used.