FWIW, I managed to checkout the 2.8.10.98 version via svn (thanks - svn is new to me as well as java). I have to say that, for Mac OS X at least, the "directions" leave something to be desired, for a clueless newbie anyway. After reading things, I found that I needed "ant". A version of ant comes with Tiger (X.4.?) but apparently not with Panther.

Getting ant compiled and installed is also a process fraught with misdirections to avoid. Panther doesn't seem to like ant 1.7 (the JUnit issue, if nothing else). I have no idea whether I've got it right or not but some manner of compilation of Phex 2.8.10.98 took place. I've yet to check out whether it's what I have in the packaged app I'm using or not. It compiled more quickly than I was expecting it too. Makes me wonder if I'm not doing something really wrong.