I'm about to start setting up a couple of Mac mini as internet servers (everything you describe here + Ruby on Rails + node.js).
I like your approach with compiling everything, but before I start I would like to know the pros and cons with MacPorts/Fink approach.
Next question is security and what is common the common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Lastly how to compare to an Ubuntu server. (But I'm biased to use Mac Mini because of size and hw quality = uptime). If anyone can suggest a good reason to run Ubuntu, I consider to use it in a VMWare Fusion or similar.
Thanks for all suggestions! I hope to contribute with a few recipes when done with my servers.
To answer your questions I have to tell you I'm a bit biased but I'll do my best to answer as best as I can.
MacPorts and Fink do all the heavy lifting for you, you won't see whats happening and not learn much. Also there you are depended on them for enabling updates or changes.
I only show you what I've done and tested. You can make your own choices and you are not really depended on me if I decide to stop. Most of the updates of the software keep working with my instructions. You can make changes as well. It's all up to you!
Security is up to you in each case. I would suggest to use Noobproof to control your firewall and only open ports you really need. Close the rest
On Ubuntu security is the same...
You can run Ubuntu directly on Mac hardware if you want to, no need for virtualisation. Just google for ubuntu and Mac.
aurora72 05 Oct 2010
When I first started out to use my 1,83Ghz (64bit) Mac mini as a Unix/Linux machine, I tried MacPorts & Fink. Both of them offered the beginners a suitable way of trying Open Source software on a Mac but they've got some weak points though I appreciate the effort.
When I started using MAcports & Fink problems mostly related to ".dylib" started to occur. I remember trying to install CLISP (a Lisp implementation) using Fink and running into referencing problems, i.e. Fink expects to find say, libJPEG.dylib under "/sw", the default place of Fink, while the original script referenced somewhere else. I remember giving up Fink and trying MacPorts to set up a web server (Apache, MySQL, PHP). Because my Mac mini was a 64bit machine, I have instructed the MacPorts to install them as 64bit binaries but I remember stopping at PHP. MacPorts was complaining about a .dylib (it might be libinconv.dylib, or libJpeg.dylib) which was running as 32bits on my machine and that it had to be 64bits, too. Surely enough, MacPorts could not convert to or find the 64bit version of that .dylib by itself. It was forcing me to install only the 32bit version of PHP and I didn't want that. You don't want to depend on MacPorts or Fink when you don't have to.
31 Aug 2010
Hi!
I'm about to start setting up a couple of Mac mini as internet servers (everything you describe here + Ruby on Rails + node.js).
I like your approach with compiling everything, but before I start I would like to know the pros and cons with MacPorts/Fink approach.
Next question is security and what is common the common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Lastly how to compare to an Ubuntu server. (But I'm biased to use Mac Mini because of size and hw quality = uptime). If anyone can suggest a good reason to run Ubuntu, I consider to use it in a VMWare Fusion or similar.
Thanks for all suggestions! I hope to contribute with a few recipes when done with my servers.
02 Sep 2010
To answer your questions I have to tell you I'm a bit biased but I'll do my best to answer as best as I can.
MacPorts and Fink do all the heavy lifting for you, you won't see whats happening and not learn much. Also there you are depended on them for enabling updates or changes.
I only show you what I've done and tested. You can make your own choices and you are not really depended on me if I decide to stop. Most of the updates of the software keep working with my instructions. You can make changes as well. It's all up to you!
Security is up to you in each case. I would suggest to use Noobproof to control your firewall and only open ports you really need. Close the rest
On Ubuntu security is the same...
You can run Ubuntu directly on Mac hardware if you want to, no need for virtualisation. Just google for ubuntu and Mac.
05 Oct 2010
When I first started out to use my 1,83Ghz (64bit) Mac mini as a Unix/Linux machine, I tried MacPorts & Fink. Both of them offered the beginners a suitable way of trying Open Source software on a Mac but they've got some weak points though I appreciate the effort.
When I started using MAcports & Fink problems mostly related to ".dylib" started to occur. I remember trying to install CLISP (a Lisp implementation) using Fink and running into referencing problems, i.e. Fink expects to find say, libJPEG.dylib under "/sw", the default place of Fink, while the original script referenced somewhere else. I remember giving up Fink and trying MacPorts to set up a web server (Apache, MySQL, PHP). Because my Mac mini was a 64bit machine, I have instructed the MacPorts to install them as 64bit binaries but I remember stopping at PHP. MacPorts was complaining about a .dylib (it might be libinconv.dylib, or libJpeg.dylib) which was running as 32bits on my machine and that it had to be 64bits, too. Surely enough, MacPorts could not convert to or find the 64bit version of that .dylib by itself. It was forcing me to install only the 32bit version of PHP and I didn't want that. You don't want to depend on MacPorts or Fink when you don't have to.