I am the author of this post - not sure why it shows up as "anonymous"

Yes - all this can be done using iTunes and many other GUI apps - but I do a lot of batch runs and bash scripting and I always like the option to do something through the terminal.

As far as why I don't install MacPorts... I used to be a big Fink fan - from first days of Mac OS X... but I just found it got to be so big and overwhelming and I had no idea what exactly was going on with it in terms of my compilations. I much prefer a more hands on approach. Also - I found that by manually compiling I learned how to solve dependency issues, patching issues, and customization issues that were often lost in the MacPorts/Fink methodology. Its really just a personal preferences - I throw this hint out there just as a notation in case anyone else wants to do the same task.