I’m trying to install a Let’s Encrypt certificate on my system that runs macOS Server.
I found the posting, “Complete guide to install SSL certificate on your OS X server hosted website” and followed the steps. I got as far as the step
git clone https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt
and got:
Running Homebrew as root is extremely dangerous and no longer supported…
Looking for this string, I found this post. Another helpful poster comments, “I noted that you tried to install homebrew as root. Don’t do it… it causes all sorts of problems down the track.” Well, I didn’t do that… the scripts in the first posting did that, I just trusted them. And I can’t find any transactions in this thread that actually present a resolution to this issue, just other issues that cropped up later down the road. Nor can I find any other forum posting that touches on this error.
As a meta issue, I’m sure the the forum’s practice of automatically closing a topic 30 days after the last reply makes the support process easier for the admins, but for the community, it makes problem solving harder, not easier. In this example, somebody posts a script that probably works fine for the next 30 days, when the posting locks. A year or two years later, it breaks due to some OS upgrade. Nobody can add a transaction saying “this doesn’t work any more.” Nobody can add a transaction saying “change line N in script X to read Y if you are running releases later than whatever.” Nobody can even add a transaction saying “Go to posting xyz for updated instructions that work better.” It’s as if the World Wide Web had search engines but no hyperlinks. 