gap for gimp on osx

since i have a chance to work on my girlfriend's shiny new mac, i attempted to use gap (gimp animation package) to do some stuff. however, it's not that easy, as there's no downloadable gap package for osx. therefore, after some research, i used macports. the procedure is as follows:

1. you need xcode. it's either available on attached dvd (don't have it here, so can't check) or available from apple if you're a developer. as macports faq states:

 To do so, go to  http://connect.apple.com/ and log in with your Apple ID (the free online developer account is enough to get access to Xcode). Once you log in, go to Downloads, then select Developer Tools on the right section under Downloads. You can then search for Xcode (there are quite a few versions available, make sure to get the latest for your OS version) using your browser, via Cmd-F.

for my snow leopard i needed xcode 3.2 or later. i registered as a developer using my exisitng apple id, gave some info on my (supposed) developer's work and proceeded to download. it is... more than 4gb, and takes more than 10gb on hd. after downloading (a few hours) you can open the .dmg and you have an icon for installing the xcode. note that xcode for lion is seemingly available for purchase via appstore, but as a (free) developer, i found a download link after logging in.

2. download appropriate version of macports and install as above.

3. now you need to use the terminal (you can find it by searching). it is actually very linux-like. i started with installing gimp-gap, cause i had gimp for osx installed. it cames out, that you need to install gimp via macports in order to work with gap (and you don't need the "other" gimp for osx). hence:

sudo port install gimp-app gimp-gap

the sudo password is the same as the one you use for installing regular mac apps. now macports will schedule, download and install one-by-one an enormous number of packages. it will take a few hours, don't worry (actually after linux experiences i worried a lot the system will be broken after that, but so far so good).

4. it's done. you invoke gimp by the 'gimp' command in the terminal, no idea how to set up an icon. and it works, at least until now. remember you need x's for gimp to work, which should be the case. macports:

The X11 windowing environment (A.K.A. “X11 User”) for ports that depend on the functionality it provides to run.

• The “X11 User” package is an optional installation on your system CDs/DVD for Tiger, enabled through the “Customize” button of the installer, whereas it is included by default on Leopard and newer.
• You can use the xorg-server port instead of Apple's X11.app if you wish.

some tutorials for a good start. have fun.