15.6K ·GitHub
What is this?
This is homebrew-core, the default tap of the Homebrew package manager — a catalog of package formulae (build recipes) that 'brew install' pulls from. It comes installed with Homebrew out of the box.
This is homebrew-core, the default tap of the Homebrew package manager — a catalog of package formulae (build recipes) that 'brew install' pulls from. It comes installed with Homebrew out of the box.So it's not a program itself — what exactly is inside the repo?It's a catalog, not an app: every formula is a small Ruby file describing where to fetch a piece of software and how Homebrew should build and install it.
It's a catalog, not an app: every formula is a small Ruby file describing where to fetch a piece of software and how Homebrew should build and install it.How do I install a package from it?Nothing extra to set up — this tap is installed with Homebrew by default. Once you have the brew command, 'brew install ' resolves the package from here.
Nothing extra to set up — this tap is installed with Homebrew by default. Once you have the brew command, 'brew install ' resolves the package from here.Do I need Ruby or any other tooling installed myself?No — you only need Homebrew's brew command; Ruby is just the language formulae are written in, and Homebrew handles running them for you.
No — you only need Homebrew's brew command; Ruby is just the language formulae are written in, and Homebrew handles running them for you.Is every Homebrew package in this repo?No — this is the core tap of open-source, build-from-source formulae. Documentation, troubleshooting and contributing live in the Homebrew/brew README, and other software sits in separate taps.
No — this is the core tap of open-source, build-from-source formulae. Documentation, troubleshooting and contributing live in the Homebrew/brew README, and other software sits in separate taps.Is this macOS-only?No — Homebrew runs on macOS and Linux, so the formulae in this tap cover both platforms.
No — Homebrew runs on macOS and Linux, so the formulae in this tap cover both platforms.Who keeps thousands of formulae up to date?Contributors plus automation: the repo runs CI workflows that lint changes, auto-bump formula versions and merge approved updates through a merge queue.
Contributors plus automation: the repo runs CI workflows that lint changes, auto-bump formula versions and merge approved updates through a merge queue.What does 'built from source' mean for these packages?The project description calls them 'built-from-source packages': each formula is a recipe telling Homebrew how to build the software from its source code.
The project description calls them 'built-from-source packages': each formula is a recipe telling Homebrew how to build the software from its source code.How is homebrew-core different from the Homebrew/brew repo?brew is the package manager itself — the tool you run in the terminal; homebrew-core is its default catalog of installable packages. Splitting them lets packages be added and updated independently of the manager's code.
brew is the package manager itself — the tool you run in the terminal; homebrew-core is its default catalog of installable packages. Splitting them lets packages be added and updated independently of the manager's code.Which topics is it in?package-management, dependency-manager, catalog, collection, ruby, package-manager, homebrew, ci, bsd, free, terminal, automation
package-management, dependency-manager, catalog, collection, ruby, package-manager, homebrew, ci, bsd, free, terminal, automation