KyngChaos Wiki blog:2005

2005 Old News

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 19:00:00 -0700

2005/4/19: PostgreSQL 8.0.2. 2005/4/16: MapServer binaries updated - removed X11 requirement from packages. 2005/4/9: MapServer binaries updated and separated to new downloads page. 2005/3/25: MapServer binaries added. Added SumomOS ME. 2005/3/12: GRASS update in the Mac OS X porting instructions.

We're off! like a turd of hurdles!

Mon, 09 May 2005 18:52:38 -0700

As my dad would say. I looked at the WordPress that my host provides as an easy install, but it was too much new for me. I guess I'll stick with Geeklog. Until I get some plugins installed, and everything moved over, the old site is at (note the '.html' vs. '.php' for the new site).

Now thing's are moving

Thu, 12 May 2005 19:21:32 -0700

I now have all the old pages moved into the Geeklog system. For now they are just encased in GL shells, same content. Most of them will probably stay that way. As I have time, I will move some into more appropriate plugins - ie gallery, downloads.

Sorry for the downtime

Tue, 17 May 2005 07:27:17 -0700

Oops, my host had MySQL problems last week. Tho the problems didn't affect the site much, my host decided to update MySQL yesterday, and that killed it.I guess I should keep a closer eye on my site, and not wait for someone to gripe (or not). news

Tiger Round 1

Tue, 24 May 2005 14:31:59 -0700

I took the Tiger plunge this weekend. Overall, it went smooth. But I don't care much for Dashboard, and I'm having problems with Spotlight (a common issue it seems). I did an upgrade install (I'm brave, I guess). All my UNIX builds made it thru. The only hitch was Apache - my httpd.conf was saved to httpd.conf.user_modified and none of my changes were added back to the new httpd.conf. Which means that Apache was using Apple's PHP. A quick update to httpd.conf restored my PHP and MapServer…

MapServer and Libraries Tiger Update

Sat, 04 Jun 2005 10:24:27 -0700

Finally finished updating the Mapserver, PHP, Postgres and libraries installers for Tiger. The old ones still work on Tiger, it's just official now. Cleaned things up a bit also. The only version change is to Postgres 8.0.3 and PostGIS 1.0.1. And MrSID has been dropped from GIS Libs (a Tiger issue).

I thought I had this all figured out!

Mon, 06 Jun 2005 08:49:50 -0700

OK, looks like PHP and MapServer are not for 10.3.9 either. A couple recent Tiger changes are too much for Panther: libcurl (used in PHP and MapServer) changed from 2 to 3, not just a point version change; and libbz2 (used in PHP) is not in Panther at all.Looks like I'll have to make separate Panther and Tiger installers after all :-( I'll update the dependency checking later so the current installers won't install on 10.3.9. The previous installers are still available if you need Panther sup…

MapServer and Libraries For Real

Mon, 06 Jun 2005 07:57:29 -0700

Oops! Bad dependency checking logic in the installers. They're fixed now (I didn't bother to change the versions on these). The installers affected are Postgres+PostGIS, PHP and MapServer. software, macosx

Postgres not for 10.3.9 right now

Mon, 06 Jun 2005 08:11:10 -0700

Blast it all! I thought I got the Tiger bit out of Postgres. Whle fixing the dependency checking problem, I found that Postgres won't run on 10.3.9 like it should. I'll have to work on it later tonight. software, macosx

MapServer 4.6 and GIS Libs update

Sat, 11 Jun 2005 08:46:43 -0700

MapServer 4.6.0rc1 installer, just in time for the Open Source Geospatial '05 Conference. If the final release is available by then, expect a final installer release before the conference. GIS Libs has also been updated: GEOS is updated to 2.1.2; GRASS raster support has (finally) been added.

Another GIS Libs update

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:27:01 -0700

I discovered that an option when building GDAL is a little misleading - with-static-proj (vs. the default 'dynamic' linking). That doesn't mean using the static libproj.a vs. the dynamic libproj.dylib. It means whether it links to libproj at compile time (static) or not (dynamic). Strange, you normally want things linked at compile time, and this is the only GDAL compile option for libraries that does this. Something to do with the Linux way of linking I think (you'd set an environment varia…

MapServer 4.6 and Graphics Libs update

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 17:31:51 -0700

Well, aren't things just happnin here!? MapServer 4.6 (final) is here, just in time for OSG. Graphics Libs - added a patch I discovered while poking around PDFlib. It adds support for certain old JPEGs-in-TIFFs created by Wang software. That's all for now. Off to OSG.

Mac OS X build instructions major update

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 09:44:33 -0700

I finally got a chance to clean up the build instructions and verify Tiger compatibility. Only a few version changes, and couple additions (HDF and NetCDF for GDAL!). One big change is the addition of patch files, to replace hacking files with a text editor and reduce the chance of errors.

New 7z CLI tool

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 20:19:41 -0700

Ack! Another compression format. It has pretty impressive compression, but it's not for everday Mac use - it doesn't retain permissions and has no clue about Mac file stuff like resource forks. Find it in the software page. software

unRAR updated

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 09:36:22 -0700

Digging thru some old stuff, I decided that my CLI unRAR installer needed an update. New version of unrar, some changes (detailed in the included history file). You can use it to update UnRarX. software

Installer updates

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 09:00:21 -0700

Man, I gotta slow down. There seems to be a bit of a bug in the Apple Installer - if you get a warning about a missing package (that's not required), it may tell you there's nothing to install. So I removed the warnings for unrequired packages in the PHP, Postgres and MapServer installers. Now you can really install MapServer without Postgres.

Yay! SumomOS theme beta release!

Sat, 25 Jun 2005 11:54:40 -0700

SumomOS is finally here! Beta release with the basics, obscure stuff and app skins left out for now. More to come. Many thanks to Yoko Tsuno for getting me back on track. software, theme, anime

Panther and Tiger installers now in sync

Sat, 02 Jul 2005 20:52:52 -0700

Finally had a chance to get the Panther installers in sync with the Tiger installers. Now you're not stuck with an older MapServer and friends in Panther! software, macosx

PHP4 XML_RPC Security Alert

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 04:48:31 -0700

There is a security vulnerability in PHP's XML RPC. Until a new release includes the fix, there is a simple way you can update your PHP installation. Assuming you are using my PHP package, type this in the Terminal (note, it downloads and installs a patch from php.net):

Installer updates

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 07:14:00 -0700

A few updates today: Graphics Libs - updated libTIFF to 3.7.3. GIS Libs - updated GEOS to 2.1.3, OGDI to 3.1.5. Fixed the library search issue with OGDI, so you don't have to mess with Terminal environment variables or specify the whole library name for drivers. ie, gltp:/vrf/ just like the gdal.org examples say.

Installer updates, part 1

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:32:31 -0700

I had more planned for the weekend, but here's what I was able to finish: Graphics Libs 1.4 - the OpenGL tiffgt utility now builds, I found the UUID version of JasPer, and new: MING (forshadowing future plans). GIS Libs 1.4 - GDAL updated to 05-7-31 CVS, this adds large-file support to formats that support it, and fixes bugs and includes other additions that it's really difficult to figure out what they are due to lack of an ongoing changelog. GDAL also now includes GeoJP2 support via the UUI…

Installer updates, part 2

Sun, 07 Aug 2005 14:01:00 -0700

XML_Parser: Mismatched tag at XML input line 21:8 Here we go! Big update. Graphics Libs 1.5 - Added Readline 5.0 and Xerces 2.6.0. Ming updated to CVS (still called 0.3beta1, tho). I finally have enough extras here that in the future I may split off a Base Libs package.

Delays and New Stuff

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 18:52:36 -0700

I haven't had time to work on the PHP CGI/MapServer stuff. Been sick all week. AND, last week I got caught up in helping getting uDig working on Mac OS X. Success! Head over to to get uDig 1.0.1, the User-friendly Desktop Internet GIS. Now running on Mac OS X! It's a bit slow (Apple java bug) and has a couple quirks, but it works. Requires Mac OS 10.4 and Java 5 (an extra download from Apple).

Build instructions update

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 15:04:48 -0700

Updated build instructions (about all I could handle today). A few new versions - tiff, gdal, php, grass. Changed everything to bash shell. Sore throat moved up to my head and I've had a cold all week. And I've been working on how to enable php-apache/php-cgi switching without having users muck about in the Terminal. So PHP-CGI stuff still delayed. Installers are otherwise ready.

Installer updates, part 3 - Finally!

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 12:46:19 -0700

Hooray! Feeling better, but the sore throat-turned-cold still lingers, and now the fall allergy season approaches. Finally, PHP is now available as both an Apache module and CGI. A crude utility to switch between each is included. MapServer has been updated to 4.6.1. And includes PHP-MapScript for each of the varieties of PHP.

MapServer Installers fixed

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 18:23:23 -0700

Oops, there were a couple problems that caused the MapServer installers to fail. Should be fixed now. Nice to know someone out there is paying attention. software, macosx

The updates never end

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:54:51 -0700

More installer updates. GraphicsLibs: updated Xerces 2.7, FreeType 2.1.10, PDFlib Lite 6.0.2. GISlibs: updated GEOS 2.1.4, CFITSIO 3.003b, GRASS libs 6.0.1, GDAL 1.3.0; added HDF5. software, macosx

GISLibs fix

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:54:16 -0700

I fixed a GRASS linking problem in GISLibs that would cause GDAL to fail, whatever you tried to do. Also, I figured out my GRASS issue on Panther, so I hope to have a GRASS installer real soon. software, macosx

Why do these linking errors keep popping up!?

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 14:53:42 -0700

Fixed a linking error in GD for the Xpm library for the Panther version of the Graphics Libs. This problem would cause anything that used GD to fail, including MapServer and PHP. On Panther only, the Tiger libraries are linked correctly. So, for now there are 2 current version numbers, 1.5.1 for Tiger and 1.5.2 for Panther.

Installer updates

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 18:22:25 -0700

What with getting distracted and trying to figure out some build issues, this update took a while. So, here you go: Graphics Libs 1.6. TIFF updated to 3.7.4. GIF updated to 4.1.4. Utils for PDFlib added (I noticed that these were not installed by default for some reason). For the Panther package, I also aded Sqlite - Apple includes it in Tiger.

ECW doesn't really work yet

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 06:40:48 -0700

Well, looks like the ECW JP2 support for the GIS Libs doesn't work yet. It isn't a final release yet, so it's not unexpected. On a brighter note, I found a patch for JasPer to speed that up - encode times for JasPer JPEG2000 reduced by half! I'll have that in the next update. (Maybe ECW will be fixed by then also ^_^)

Installer updates

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 14:26:03 -0700

A bunch of updates today. Graphics Libs: Added that JasPer speedup patch. JPEG2000 processing times cut in half! Also added the JasPer OpenGL viewer jiv, for Tiger only - there are some build issues with Panther's OpenGL. GIS Libs: Oops, the Tiger installer for v1.6 included the old files (I forgot to synchronize the install files), but the cleanup script still removed the last GDAL library, thus breaking GDAL. This has been fixed. The non-working ECW is also there. Bumped the version to …

Lean, Mean and Built for the Future

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 10:37:56 -0700

Big changes, starting with the Graphics Libs. Don't worry, they're still compatible with the other installers. First up: I've removed debug options from all packages where it was the default. This results in smaller, and possibly slightly faster, binaries. In most cases this was a 50% reduction in size, though some were already without debug options.

Old installers updated to work with new

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 15:56:48 -0700

My old installer version checking logic didn't like the major version change with Graphics Libs 2.0. This has been fixed for all but MapServer. I'll have that one fixed soon, plus an update to MapServer 4.6.2. software, macosx

MapServer updated to 4.6.2, Installer fixes finished

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 07:18:32 -0700

As promised: MapServer is updated to 4.6.2, and the version checking logic is fixed to work with Graphics Libs 2.0. Also, the GIS Libs package for Tiger wasn't really fixed. Or rather, Apple's PackageMaker kept changing the authorization option on me. That's fixed now, so you should download that again (I didn't change the version).

But wait, there's more...

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 18:52:25 -0700

A couple rapid-fire updates. GIS Libs. Universal binaries for GIS Libs. HDF5 updated to 1.6.5 (but not universal). GIS Libs optimized, that is, debugging removed. Broken ECW removed until fixed by authors. Added OCI (Oracle) support. Added documentation.