Homebrew
A package manager for macOS (and Linux).
Homebrew compiles and installs Unix software on macOS using ordinary user permissions: the package tree lives under /opt/homebrew (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local (Intel), so most installs don't need sudo. Formulae are Ruby files that describe how to download, configure, and build a piece of software, with inheritance and DSLs that keep individual formulae short.
Casks extend Homebrew to native macOS applications — running "brew install --cask firefox" downloads the Firefox .dmg, mounts it, copies Firefox.app into /Applications, and updates it via subsequent brew upgrade. Casks are packaged as Ruby files in a separate tap (homebrew-cask) maintained by a community team.
Max Howell started Homebrew in 2009. The Linux port (Linuxbrew) was merged back into core Homebrew in 2019, so the same brew command and many of the same formulae work on Linux as on macOS. The tap mechanism lets anyone publish their own collection of formulae, and many open-source projects ship their own Homebrew taps for installation.
Install
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Authors
- Max Howell (creator)
- Homebrew maintainers