Fink "Can't fix GCC after Repair Permissions"

I'm now working with Leopard aka OS X v10.5; this is a Leopard problem

Chasing around to see what could be wrong, I find two contradictory bits of information:

In Apple's version of GCC, both cc and gcc are actually symbolic links to a compiler named like gcc-version; which compiler is linked to may be changed using the command gcc_select.

% locate gcc_select
/usr/sbin/gcc_select
/usr/share/man/man8/gcc_select.8

% gcc_select -l
This version of gcc_select can be used only on MacOS X 10.4.

It seems this may be connected to the CHUD problem of the previous post.

Here's what worked for me:

1. Remove gcc_select (it says it doesn't work with 10.5).
2. Remove /Developer (XCode Tools didn't install properly anyway).
3. Reinstall XCode — make sure you install the Unix Developer Support option.
4. Run Fink: Selfupdate, then Update-all

Everything worked smoothly.

I still have some problems with Keychain and Kerberos, but I still like Leopard. Cover Flow is helping me clean up my desktop.

Leopard - a spotty start

Added later: See the following post (above) for solution!

First, the good news. I have Leopard up-and-running, and it is great. It feels faster (maybe it is faster, who knows) it looks great.

Installation is supposed to be straigtforward. Put the CD in the drive and follow the instructions. We got to the place where you are supposed to select a disk on which to install Leopard - no disk appears. Wait,... Wait some more,... Make a cup of tea, ... Still a blank.

Go back, and look for an exit button - there is none. Try Disk Utility as suggested to select startup drive - no drive appears. Despair begins. I did back up my important files before starting this process, but restoring them will be a hassle - and what about the unimportant ones (I have a long tail, lots and lots of not very important files, but if they all go, that will feel quite important).

I try various incantations of keys (escape, eject, command-Q, even ctrl-alt-del) nothing works.

In desperation, I plug in an external drive to see if I can perhaps escape this nightmare by installing Leopard on that. The drive appears, but I'm not allowed to install on that drive. I'm about to do a hard reset (well forced power-down by pressing the button until it gives up). Then, my hard drive appears as a possible selection.

I select the drive, hit continue, and leopard installs without further hitch (it takes almost two hours).

It looks just the same - it just feels better, and faster. Of course, if you look closely, it isn't the same, but the changes are subtle, it feels entirely familiar, but better.

Now to install XCode Tools... This time, everything starts fine, but then fails at the end telling me that CHUD installation has failed, and I should contact the software manufacturer (that would be Apple).

securityd memory hogging

Mac running slow, Keychain keeps telling me Google Desktop has changed and asks for authentication. Do I have a virus, or is something wrong with keychain?

Activity Monitor tells me that securityd is using 1.5GB of memory; something is wrong.

Googling suggests that /var/db/CodeEquivalenceDatabase may be corrupted. Furthermore, it seems that it can rebuild itself, so the lizard's tail treatment is suggested: remove the offending part.

I did the following:

cd /var/db
sudo rm -rf CodeEquivalenceDatabase

sudo rm -rf is serious magic, and can get you in serious trouble; be careful (long ago, I once did cd /dev ; rm -rf mouse * — where I meant mouse* — don't try this at home) ... the faint-of-heart could take a copy of the file instead and remove it later:
mv CodeEquivalenceDatabase CodeEquivalenceDatabase.old

In any case, this seemed to work. After a restart keychain asks me to authenticate access for various apps: SystemUIServer, GoogleDesktopAgent, Mail, ... I do this. Everything seems normal, and securityd is using "only" 28MB of memory (back in the old days, we used to run serious theorem provers in less).

Google Desktop Search for Mac OSX

Google Desktop
Search your Mac.

Faster than spotlight; integrates with web search

gmail IMAP access UK

I was delighted to see Google's announcment of IMAP access to gmail, then disappointed to find that my gmail settings page didn't provide the IMAP option.

Google evidently don't know how to say "IMAP" in english english!

Solution: Log in to Gmail. Go to your settings page. Change your language setting to English (US); Save Changes and the option appears: Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Use this tab to enable IMAP access, then you can go back to English (UK).