The latest version of PDL available on Macports is 2.4.6, and it installed very 
easily. Actually, the first time I tried to install it, there was a problem 
with pdlcore.h. I filed a ticket. Am not sure if the ticket was addressed or 
not, but I tried it again a few days later, and it installed easily and 
cleanly. I also wanted PDL::NetCDF, but it was not available on Macports; the 
other netcdf module was available. In any case, PDL::NetCDF installed really 
easily even though I had to download the code and compile it.

Macports has now a new capability added to it... the ability to add pre made 
binaries. If macports determines that the client computer is compatible with an 
existing binary, just the binary is downloaded an activated without need to 
download the source code and compile it. Saves a lot of time.

My suggestion -- move the Mac PDL effort from SciPDL to macports, which would 
download and activate the pre-built binary where appropriate, or build PDL from 
scratch for other instances.

I discovered Macports a few months ago, and have really enjoyed my experience. 
Until then, I insisted on compiling all my software, but it really was a 
needless exercise in pain. I also realize there are alternatives to Macports 
(Homebrew, Fink, etc.), however, my experience is limited to Macports, and from 
just reading about, I find their approach better. For example, they don't use 
anything from the system installed software. Either an existing Perl is used, 
or, if a particular port is really finicky about perl versions, a perl specific 
to the port can also be used.

In short, being able to install PDL via macports helped me get on with the 
science problems instead of spending too much time on the installing problems.

--
Puneet Kishor



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