A general philosophical question about MacPorts

[James Linder]

> On 20 Feb 2019, at 8:00 pm, macports-users-request at lists.macports.org wrote:
> 
>> So my philosophical question is “Why MacPorts these days?”
> 
> Because running the tools it provides in a VM is a grotesque waste of 
> RAM and disk space and puts a wall up between tools I want to use 
> occasionally and the UI where I prefer to work mostly.

Bill I disagree! What is a waste? I typically give my VMs 2G from a 32G pool. I run 2 or 3 VMs without noticeing. You *can* get apple ram from not-apple that is quite cheap.

> Also, on one old 1st generation Core Duo iMac, it helps me to build and 
> run a suite of server software and other key tools that can face the 
> Internet with reasonable safety

A couple of years ago one of the anti-virus companies offered $10 000 and a Sony Viao to the first person to hack their honeypot Windows, Max and Linux boxes.
The Windows reward was claimed within hours
The Mac was hacked in a week (a flaw in safari)
The linux prize is still unclaimed.
Detractors opined that ir was unkewl (sic) to hack linux.
Rubbish! It would be very kewl to be the one who found an exploitable flaw in linux.

Yesterday News: Canberra parliment in massive hack. Makes you wonder.

> and an attack surface that doesn't quite 
> look like any other machine while seeming irresistible to a certain 
> class of miscreants. I have a professional interest in the unique 
> behavioral intelligence I get from that machine that I cannot get 
> anywhere else. It would be a serious chore to maintain that host as 
> 'live bait' without MacPorts and I hate the idea of just discarding a 
> machine that would otherwise have no practical use.

I guess the subject is dear to my heart that explains me waxing (so) lyrical.
James