[Swarm-Support] Re: swarm on Mac OS X

[Bill Northcott]

Hi James

I think I have probably confused you with all my instructions, and past 
discussions.

The binary packages available on my web site should install and work 
properly even if you have Fink installed.

> Hi there. I'm very interested in setting up swarm on my machine, but 
> the requirements are a bit strange. I use fink quite heavily, and I 
> would like to be able to continue to use it, as it provides me with 
> all the unix tools I need, quickly and easily. Also, why does it 
> require the GNU objective-C runtime?

Swarm uses function calls specific to the GNU Objective-C runtime, but 
this need not concern you as the runtime is included in the Swarm 
libraries.  They will not affect any code not linked against them.
> What would it take to get swarm working properly on Mac OS X? And by 
> properly, I mean so that it doesn't mess up the rest of my system. 
> Does code need to be written/ported? If so, I'm willing to roll up my 
> sleeves and get dirty with it, to make it usable for those of us who 
> can't afford to dump both fink and the Apple obj-c runtime.

Just download and install the binary packages.    All except the 
compiler install in package sub-directories of /usr/local.  It is 
almost impossible for them to interfere with anything already on your 
computer and you can remove the Swarm installation by just deleting the 
package directories.  The compiler on my site does install at the 
normal Apple locations, but it is an Apple compiler not third party 
code.

Bill