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weup togo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 6, 2016
357
1,257
Most folks probably know this, but with another year's passage, it's worth a reminder: Apple hates having to maintain open source tools and libraries. The release schedules and security patches never align with Apple's own, and the old code becomes a greater liability each year.

As a result, Apple has abandoned in place many of the most important tools that live in /usr/bin and the like. The best way for you to easily stay current is to use Homebrew. Here are some examples of what shipped with Mojave versus what is more current in Homebrew:

Code:
          Mojave                 Brew
Perl      5.18.2     Jan 14      5.28.0     Jun 18
Python    2.7.10     May 15      2.7.15     May 18
Python3   Missing                3.7.0      Jun 18
OpenSSL   2.6.4*     Dec 17      1.1.1*     Sept 18
rsync     2.6.9      Nov 06      3.1.3      Jan 18
awk                  May 07                 Aug 18

*Apple switched to LibreSSL, so these aren't directly comparable,
but it is worth noting that Mojave's openssl shipped without TLS 1.3
support–one of those cases completely beyond their control due to the timing.

These are just a few examples that I use regularly. Some of the deltas are quantum leaps in terms of features, particularly rsync. Homebrew makes it easy to get the latest security fixes and features across all your Macs. This is also particularly useful if you also work with other Unices which are maintained more rigorously.
 
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Einkoro

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2007
78
49
Canada
There is also macports if you prefer.

And most importantly if you use terminal Apple finally fixed the resizing of the window when opening and closing tabs. No more shrinking terminal windows hurrah!
 
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