Errors when trying to install geos 3.3.8 on mac osx

Question

I'm trying to install basemap so I can tinker with maps through python, but I can't get GEOS to load correctly (prereq for basemap). I run the ./configure, but when I do "sudo make; make install" I get the following error output:

ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make[2]: *** [libgeos.la] Error 1
make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
make: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
Making install in include
Making install in geos
Making install in algorithm
Making install in locate
make[6]: Nothing to be done for `install-exec-am'.
test -z "/usr/local/include/geos/algorithm/locate" || ../../../.././install-sh -c -d           "/usr/local/include/geos/algorithm/locate"
 /usr/bin/install -c -m 644 IndexedPointInAreaLocator.h PointOnGeometryLocator.h     SimplePointInAreaLocator.h '/usr/local/include/geos/algorithm/locate'
install: /usr/local/include/geos/algorithm/locate/IndexedPointInAreaLocator.h: Permission      denied
make[6]: *** [install-geosHEADERS] Error 71
make[5]: *** [install-am] Error 2
make[4]: *** [install-recursive] Error 1
make[3]: *** [install-recursive] Error 1
make[2]: *** [install-recursive] Error 1
make[1]: *** [install-recursive] Error 1
make: *** [install-recursive] Error 1

I've tried updating my XCode terminal commands, redownloading the packages, and updating everything else. Any ideas on how to get this installed?

Apologies if this is an easy fix; new to python...

Answer 1

The key error message is:

install: /usr/local/include/geos/algorithm/locate/IndexedPointInAreaLocator.h: Permission denied

By default, on OS X (and most other Unix-y systems), you need administrator privileges to create files in /usr/local and its subsdirectories. Try running the make install with sudo:

sudo make install