install g77 using fink

Question

I am trying to install convex optimization package OBOE: https://projects.coin-or.org/OBOE/wiki/MacosxOboe

I followed its instruction, but I run into errors in this step:

fink install g77

I think fink is properly install because:

fink install atlas

is run successfully;

while

fink install g77

tells me:

Information about 10346 packages read in 1 seconds.
Failed: no package found for specification 'g77'!

does someone know what happened? Thank you

Answer 1

The compiler g77 is quite old and part of the gcc 3.x era. Since gcc 4.0, g77 has been replaced by gfortran. While gfortran is not an F77 compiler, it should compile just about any standards compliant (and with some vendor extensions) F77 code. I would advise to avoid any tutorial asking you to install compilers like g77 or f2c as it is a clear sign they are severely out of date.

If fink doesn't have an easy installation of gfortran (and it doesn't sound like it does), consider using macports to install a Fortran compiler. Note than with macports, the Fortran compiler is part of the gcc package, so you would use a command like:

sudo port install gcc48 

to install the GNU compiler collection, including gfortran.