So I finally decided to figure out why I couldn't just type "port" (etc.) in an X11 window. I found the section in the installation guide: http://trac.macosforge.org/projects/macports/wiki/InstallingMacPorts
To launch X11 apps directly from an X11 window (instead of a terminal window), you need to have the MacPorts paths imported into X11 sessions when they are opened. To do this:
1. Open X11 and select "Customize Menu ..." from the Applications menu. 2. Double-click the menu item "Terminal" and change: xterm to xterm -ls 3. Click "Done" to save the change.
This works great in that I can select "Terminal" from X11's "Applications" menu and it opens a new xterm which knows my PATH and I can type "port" and so forth and it knows where it is. However, when X11.app first opens, it automatically opens an xterm for me, and that xterm still doesn't know my PATH. How do I teach it?