Well, we're aware that this problem exists. Partly as a result of this problem, since no agreement on the transfer of the domain name into our control could be reached, the name of the project was changed to MacPorts. The correct official web site for this project is http://www.macports.org/ . It was previously http:// www.darwinports.org/ . It has never been darwinports dot com. I don't know if anyone has attempted to contact the owner of darwinports dot com recently to negotiate a transfer. I'd be happy to do so on behalf of the project if desired, but we should coordinate this so that we don't all independently try to contact him. Someone from portmgr should chime in here and advise. On Jan 8, 2008, at 00:38, Michael Witten wrote:
Maintainers of MacPorts,
There is a fairly benign, but terribly frustrating issue with which you should deal swiftly.
Somebody by the name of Mat Caughron is running a mirror of the MacPorts project at
Unfortunately, such a usually kind favor is actually a mischievous attempt to garner advertisement revenue and glean user email addresses.
While these ulterior motives are trashy, what disturbs me most is the confusion that results from 2 seemingly viable ports systems, especially since Mat Caughron not only hosts the system under the name DarwinPorts, but he also tries to hide the direct connection with MacPorts.
Which one is the "correct" system?
This semblance of disorganization and trashiness drives people away from open source or at least to other projects like fink.
It is a branding issue.
I advise the following:
(1) Clarify the situation in the FAQ, in the Wiki, and on the main page.
It should be stated in rather clear terms that darwinports.com is attempting to rebrand MacPorts mischievously for email gathering and unwarranted advertisement revenue.
A strong statement makes it clear which project is official.
(2) Explicitly state somewhere that derivatives must acknowledge MacPorts clearly; this will help with future troubles.
(3) Try to negotiate the transfer of the ownership of darwinports.com to the MacPorts team; he can app- arently be contacted at
Mat Caughron (408) 910-1266 caughron@gmail.com
In any case, this subject of darwinports.com came up once in discussions:
http://osdir.com/ml/opendarwin.darwinports/2004-02/msg00090.html
and though Mat Caughron pretended to be a novice, who was just having fun and trying to support a project, it came to light that he had tried and is still trying to peddle other projects:
http://osdir.com/ml/opendarwin.darwinports/2004-02/msg00091.html
Furthermore, James Berry contacted Mat Caughron a couple of years ago in order to resolve this point of contention by initiating a transfer of the domain ownership to the project. In return, Matt Caughron required a PowerBook.
With (1), it won't really matter if this transaction is refused.
Sincerely, Michael Witten