I have been searching for a method of setting up Django on Mac OS X Leopard and it seems that people like to over complicate the process. Here is a simplified set of instructions for installing Django on Mac OS X Leopard.

Upgrading Python
First, the Python that comes with Mac may not be the latest, so let’s make sure that we are running the latest Python. Download python-2.5-macosx.dmg and open the file. Double Click MacPython.mpkg to open the installer. Follow the instructions on the installer to install the latest Python. Eject the disk image when done.

Also, download PIL-1.1.6-py2.5-macosx10.4-2007-05-18.dmg while you are at it and open it. Open the PIL-1.1.6.-py2.5-macosx10.4.mpkg package inside. Just follow the steps and unmount (eject) the disk image when done. You can now utilize image files in your django models!

Installing Django
Click Finder, then Application, and open your Utilities folder. Open the Terminal. Say hello to the terminal fellow Mac users and future Django-based web-app developers! It will be your best friend. Type in the following command:

mkdir ~/Documents/django/

We have just created a folder called django in our Documents folder. This will be the folder where we will put our django files and our projects. Let’s make sure everything is organized. Let’s change our current directory to the new folder we have just created.

cd ~/Documents/django/

Now to download django:

svn co http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk/ django-trunk

And now we have django downloaded. The next logical step is to install django:

sudo python django-trunk/setup.py install

Make sure you enter your password. Sudo allows us to install django without limits. This way, it is placed where it needs to go without permission problems. And you should now have django setup on your Mac. Yes, it is that easy.