Installing GNU wget on OS X 10.7

GNU wget by default looks to use the GNUTLS library for SSL connections when it’s compiled. The error looks like this:

configure: error: --with-ssl was given, but GNUTLS is not available.

Naturally, that error comes up because GNUTLS is not on OS X 10.7. Happily, you can ask wget to use openssl instead.

./configure --with-ssl=openssl
make
sudo make install

The flag for configure will make all your GNUTLS problems go away.

On the uselessness of some moral philosophy

“There must in a theory be some generalization and some specification or diversification, and a good rich key concept guides on both in recognizing the unity in it. The concept of obligation has served this function very well for the area of morality it covers, and so we have some fine theories about that area. But as Aristotelians and Christians, as well as women, know, there is a lot of morality not covered by that concept, a lot of very great importance even for the area where there are obligations.

Annette C. Baier, What do Women want in a Moral Theory

Most people are not hipsters

Ed Wendler Jr., a developer, noted that most apartment and condominium units are smaller than most families prefer. And influential neighborhood activists, worried about bearing the brunt of growth, could make even those difficult to build along the city-core thoroughfares such as North Lamar Boulevard, South Congress Avenue and Springdale Road, as envisioned in the plan.

That would leave the city’s fringes as the logical place for most growth to happen, Wendler said.

“Families will not stop wanting that lifestyle,” he said. “All (Imagine Austin) is going to do is push families out to Round Rock, Pflugerville, Manor, Kyle, Buda or the unincorporated areas around Austin. There is a lot of reality that will get in the way of this vision.”

- New Austin blueprint envisions new direction for growth

Most folks are still looking for a suburban style place to live. Frankly, even my neighborhood in central Austin is in some ways less dense than the Boston suburb I grew up in which was 20+ miles from downtown. If Austin is going to try to stop suburban style growth and encourage more “urban” development, then San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston should send the Austin city government a thank you note. You can’t make people want condos, townhouses, and apartments just because that’s the only housing you’ll allow to be built. Folks can always move somewhere else.