C'mon though - you need to meet people half way and read a little. From the Github README (<a href="http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/" rel="nofollow">http://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/</a>):<p>Here's why you may prefer Homebrew to the alternatives:<p>Zero configuration installation<p>Copy the contents of this directory to /usr/local. Homebrew is now ready for use.<p>Or… install anywhere!<p>You can actually stick this directory anywhere. Like ~/.local or /opt or /lol if you like. You can even move this directory somewhere else later. Homebrew never changes any files outside of its prefix.<p>The GoboLinux approach<p>Packages are installed into their own prefix (eg. /usr/local/Cellar/wget) and then symlinked into the Homebrew prefix (eg. /usr/local).<p>This way the filesystem is the package database and packages can be managed with existing command line tools. For example, you can uninstall with rm -rf, list with find, query with du. It also means you can install multiple versions of software or libraries and switch on demand.<p>Of course, you don't have to do anything by hand, we also provide a convenient and fully-featured four-letter tool called brew.<p>You don't have to sudo<p>It's up to you.<p>Create new package descriptions in seconds<p>Package descriptions (formula) are simple Ruby scripts. Generate a template with:<p><pre><code>    brew create http://foo.com/tarball-0.8.9.tgz
</code></pre>
Or edit an existing formula:<p><pre><code>    brew edit foo
</code></pre>
Package descriptions not required<p>MacPorts doesn't support the beta version? Need an older version? Need custom compile flags? The Homebrew tool-chain is carefully segregated so you can build stuff by hand but still end up with package management.<p>Just install to the Cellar and then call brew link to symlink that installation into your PATH, eg.<p><pre><code>    ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/wget/1.10
    make install
    brew ln wget
</code></pre>
Or Homebrew can figure out the prefix:<p><pre><code>    ./configure `brew diy`
    cmake . `brew diy`
</code></pre>
Optimization<p>We optimize for (Snow) Leopard Intel, binaries are stripped, compile flags are tuned to your exact Mac model. Slow software sucks.<p>Making the most of OS X<p>A touch of RubyCocoa, a cheeky sysctl query or two and a smattering of FSEvent monitoring. In these manic days of cross-platform development, it's can be a welcome relief to use something that is better because it isn't too generalized.<p>No duplication<p>MacPorts is an autarky -- you get a duplicate copy of zlib, OpenSSL, Python, etc. Homebrew uses what is already there, and consequently, most stuff has zero dependencies and builds faster.<p>We resist packaging stuff that is already packaged. So we have a wiki page that describes how best to use RubyGems, Pip (or easy_install) and CPAN with OS X and Homebrew.<p>Fork with Git<p>The formula are all on git, so just fork to add new packages, or add extra remotes to get packages from more exotic maintainers.<p>Surfing the cutting edge<p>If the package provides a git://, svn://, cvs:// or hg:// url you can choose to install that instead and then update as often as you like.