Posted by Feniks

Port Authority is a no-cost, open-source application that provides a graphical user interface for the DarwinPorts package management system for Mac OS X. DarwinPorts is a powerful command-line tool for installing and updating a variety of Unix-based applications for the Mac.

Its power, though, comes at the cost of some complexity; in the past the only way to utilize DarwinPorts was to type in various commands into the Mac’s Terminal application, which can be intimidating for those users without a Unix background.

Port Authority aims to bring the power of DarwinPorts to the traditional Mac user by providing an Aqua-native, user-friendly graphical interface to DarwinPorts. Using a familiar combination of windows, icons, and menus, Port Authority users can search, install, update, and remove DarwinPorts programs and the DarwinPorts infrastructure itself.