1. No alternative copies of Python, Perl, Ruby, zlib, etc...
And if I need a newer version of Python, coupled with a dependency tree of third-party modules?
I don't see why this matters, other than some pedantic sense of cleanliness ("NO DUPLICATES!" ... even though they're not, in reality, duplicates).
2. Everything installs to where it is supposed to, i.e., under /usr/local/
You can configure MacPorts to do this, but the reason it's not the default was to leave /usr/local for the user's own manually installed software. I don't think this really matters either way.
After installing via Homebrew, things do not look drastically different to having compiled them by hand.
1. No alternative copies of Python, Perl, Ruby, zlib, etc...
2. Everything installs to where it is supposed to, i.e., under /usr/local/
After installing via Homebrew, things do not look drastically different to having compiled them by hand.
Fink does install precompiled binaries: http://www.finkproject.org/
If you think there is no complexity issue with sandboxes, try using both Macports and Fink side-by-side.