News

fink-0.33.0 was released on 6 June, 2012. This release introduces some new features:

Starting with this version of fink, packages will be built as an unprivileged user by default, which prevents the build process from installing files in the rest of the filesystem. (Prior to fink-0.33.0 we relied on maintainers to test their packages using this method). Users may find that some packages don't build in this mode, so we appreciate feedback, as always, to help us find and correct problems.

In addition, we have added some additional options for maintainers in this Fink version. /sw/Library/Python has been added to the list of valid directories in a package, to provide a unified location to install modules built against a built-in Python. There is now an xcode.app virtual package for packages that use xcodebuild to BuildDepend upon. Its version is the version of Xcode.app. The xcode virtual package has always been based on the presence of the command-line tools, and now its version is the version of those. Note that xcode and xcode.app are the same for Xcodes prior to 4.3.

fink-0.32.6 was released on 14 April, 2012. This release introduces a new package description field, BuildAsNobody: false, to mark packages which cannot built using fink --build-as-nobody. Currently, this does not have any effect, but in fink-0.33.0 and later we will begin building packages as an unprivileged user by default, and this field will allow packages to be built as root.

fink-0.32.5.5 was released on 9 April, 2012. This bugfix release fixes an issue with bootstrapping on 10.5/PowerPC.

 Recent Package Updates

Status

Fink currently supports OS X 10.7 (Lion), 10.6 (SnowLeopard), and 10.5 (Leopard), and continues to run on older versions of OS X, although official updates are no longer available for the older versions. Installation instructions can be found on our source release page.

XCode must be installed before Fink.

10.5 Support: Users are encouraged to update to OS 10.5.2 or later, via Software Update, in order to get bugfixes and enhancements for X11. Further unofficial updates continue to be made available on the XQuartz Update Page. We are not currently supporting Xquartz on 10.6 or 10.7.
Users should also install Xcode 3.1 or later, preferably 3.1.4, to fix some known problems in building packages.

Resources

If you're looking for support, check out the help page. That page also lists various options to help the project and submit feedback.

If you are looking for the source files which correspond to binaries distributed by the Fink project, please consult this page for instructions.

The Fink project is hosted by SourceForge. In addition to hosting this site and the downloads, SourceForge provides the following resources for the project:

• SourceForge project summary page
• Report or view bugs
• Submit a new Fink package (non-core developers)
• Request a package that's not in Fink
• Submit a patch for fink (the program)
• Request a feature that's not in fink (the program)
• Mailing lists
• CVS (browse online, access instructions)

Please note that to use some of these resources (ie, to report a bug or request a new Fink package), you will need to be logged in to your SourceForge account. If you do not have one, you can sign up for one for free on the SourceForge web site.

Additional resources hosted outside SourceForge include:

• The Fink developer wiki (now at a new location).
• New github repository for the source code of the fink package manager.
• New github repository for the fink-mirrors package.