Q: Updating individual libraries in Darwin?
Hi,
I was wondering how one would go about doing this rather than waiting for them to be updated in a maybe too-distant System update? I receive notifications of security updates to Unix libraries like http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3574 and, while this is primarily an update for Debian, the alert says it's for "Unix variants" - including OS X. I see this library exists under /usr/lib, so, is it possible to update it independently of OS X updates? Presumably, you'd have to obtain the updated source from, where - FreeBSD & then compile it? Does anyone ever do this? I've heard Apple can be a bit tardy in its application of Unix security updates so there could be a reason to do this for a particularly severe case applicable to one's environment.
T.I.A.
GAM
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)
Posted on May 11, 2016 12:33 AM
libarchive is compiled on OS X with the same source code found at http://www.libarchive.org/ . Apple does change the configuration. You can find the xcode project file for your version of libarchive at http://opensource.apple.com//. Now, it is possible to apply the libarchive.org patches to the the source code found at opensource.apple then build the patched version but.... Well, you still have to overcome sip and the possibility that the finished product is not codesigned properly. Assuming that you got the patched version files installed and working, at anytime a software update could overwrite your changes.
If you need the updated library or want to use the updated bsdtar or bsdcpio, then download the patched source code and compile it in a prefix such as /usr/local or $HOME/local.
Posted on May 13, 2016 9:17 AM