:author: Keith F. Prussing
:date: 2015-03-24
:template: post.html

A Quick Note on Installing Old Ports
====================================

.. container:: abstract

    So, I recently discovered that something is wrong with Inkscape_
    0.91 available from MacPorts.  When I attempt to convert a SVG to
    PDF+LaTeX, it doesn't work.  At first blush, it appears like a macro
    is not properly closed with a ``}`` character; however, I have not
    had a chance to create a minimum working example to reproduce this
    behavior.  The problem is I _need_ this to work for my dissertation.
    Trying the development port didn't help because the ``lualatex`` was
    claiming that a page was missing.

After a Google search, I found `these instructions`_ which failed because
``port`` was claiming that it could not find the patches.  To work around
this, I went to the repository and went back to the revision with the
patches.  After downloading them and placing them in the ``files``
directory next to the ``Portfile``, I was able to get a copy of Inkscape
that worked for what I need.  The trick was to manually download the
files ``port`` wanted.

Now to see if I can hunt down what the problem is and get it fixed…

.. _Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/en/
.. _these instructions: http://trac.macports.org/wiki/howto/InstallingOlderPort