All programs listed on this page are free or open-source... unless they have a big dollar sign next to them.

My Build Procedure

When I build programs from source, I use the following setup:

• Programs are all installed in the ~/pkg directory

• Tarballs are downloaded to ~/pkg/tarballs

• Tarballs are untarred to ~/pkg/sources using the command:

tar xvzf program-x.x.x.tar.gz -C ../sources/

• The usual configure/make/make install procedure is performed, but the configure line used is put into a script named runconfigure.program-x.x.x.operating-system.sh, and I put notes into the configure file's comments, so that I have a detailed record of:
  • What configure line options I used
  • Whether I used a non-standard series of steps, took any extra steps (e.g. make test), or had to install any dependencies
  • The date I last modified the configure line

• The program is installed to pkg/program/x.x.x/ using the --prefix=$HOME/pkg/program/x.x.x configure option

• (Optional) Once the program is installed, I add pkg/program/x.x.x/bin to my $PATH by adding the following line to my $HOME/.profile:

export PATH="${PATH}:${HOME}/pkg/program/x.x.x/bin"

• Alternately, I can create a link to the "standard version" for my system in $HOME/pkg/program/std, which links to the most up-to-date version of the program; that way, I can install 2 or 3 or more versions of the program, but have the standard version point to the one I want to use. This way, I don't have to update my $HOME/.profile every time, because the .profile contains:

export PATH="${PATH}:${HOME}/pkg/program/std/bin"

Unix System Utilities

Programs Built From Source

See also, my procedure for setting up a new Mac: Mac OS X Lion

OS-Agnostic Binary Programs

Mac-Only Software

This table is old. Some of the tools have been superseded by others. See instead, my procedure for setting up a new Mac: Mac OS X Lion

Program	Description	Webpage
Aquamacs	version of Emacs that uses Aqua (Mac window style)	http://aquamacs.org/
Chicken of the VNC	remote desktop (or VNC) client for Mac	http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/
Chmox	utility to read .chm files	http://chmox.sourceforge.net/
Disk Inventory X	gives you a graphical depiction of what's using space on your hard drive	http://www.derlien.com/
Divvy	Nice Mac utility to easily resize windows. If you decide to keep using it without paying, it will show you a popup message every couple of times you open it. I spent $15 to buy it, and it is worth every penny. I use it more than I use Quicksilver (which is really saying something).	http://www.mizage.com/divvy/
DjView	utility to read .djvu files (ebook format)	http://djvu.sourceforge.net/
DynDNS	Syncs IP information with DynDNS servers; allows computers with dynamic IP address to run a web server that DynDNS "knows about"	http://www.dyndns.com/
Evernote	program to take notes, and sync them with a server, on the cloud	http://www.evernote.com/
Fink	a content-management system (like yum or aptitude) for Mac	http://www.finkproject.org/
Fugu	GUI interface for ftp/ssh/etc to a remote client (Don't use "Son of Fugu", it's not as good as Fugu)	http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/fugu/
Inkscape	open-source image editor	http://inkscape.org/
iTerm	alternative to Mac's "Terminal" application (a really nice feature is its full-screen mode: good way to eliminate distractions)	http://iterm.sourceforge.net/
MacFuse	allows you to mount various file systems on your Mac	https://code.google.com/p/macfuse/
MacFusion	GUI for using MacFuse to mount different filesystem types	http://www.macfusionapp.org/
Mac The Ripper	used to rip DVDs to your hard drive (extracts to VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS, not .mov or .avi, but you can open the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS contents with most DVD players)	http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14414/mactheripper
MacPorts	Don't use Macports, it tries to compile everything, every single last dependency, EVERYTHING, from source (this includes programs that take 5 hours to compile and are already available on your machine and on your path - like gcc). Building anything using MacPorts takes at least 2 hours and MacPorts is a complete waste of time. I highly recommend Fink. If you're already using MacPorts, I suggest you abandon ship and join Fink... before it's too late.
MacVim	version of Vim that uses Aqua (Mac window manager)	https://code.google.com/p/macvim/
MPlayer	media player for Mac	http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html
Shark	C++ profiler for Mac	Simple tutorial: http://tuvix.apple.com/tools/sharkoptimize.html Getting started: http://bit.ly/a4XYEv Advanced profiling: http://bit.ly/9ffZd7
Saturn	another profiler for Mac	http://adrianboeing.blogspot.com/2010/02/profiling-on-mac-osx-with-saturn.html