Just in case you’re new to this, please go over the following instructions.
If you’re on of those people, you probably already have it installed, and know how to use it.
If, however, you like to make you Mac perform other tasks that the GUI doesn’t support, such as programming related tasks, then Homebrew is likely to be very handy. If you’re not someone that likes to tinker under the hood of your operating system, and use your computer for anything more than the common tasks performed through the graphical user interface (GUI), then Homebrew is likely not of much use to you. Why use Homebrew?įor many Apple computer users, there’s no reason at all to use Homebrew. But first, let’s look at why you’d even bother.
Without getting into all the details, in this Mac Tip I will share basic instructions on how to install and use Homebrew. On Debian based Linux systems (such as Debian, Ubuntu, and others) there’s a tool called Advanced Package Tool, or APT for short, and it comes with the OS. Although on your Mac Homebrew is only used for command / system level tools and applications. Package managers are fundamental to Linux systems (which OS X / macOS is based on), for installing pretty much anything you may need at the command line level and also front-end applications. Homebrew is the Mac equivalent of an application package manager. Or you can browse the filtering formula page here for a complete list of Homebrew packages that can theoretically be installed.What is Homebrew (for Mac OS, not the homebrew you drink) The result of the filter search is every available Homebrew package that can be installed. The first approach uses a simple search command: Of course, we’ll focus on what Homebrew packages are currently installed on your Mac, but if you want a list of Homebrew packages that are available to install, you can use one of the following methods.
How do I find Homebrew packages that can be installed? The output of this command is every package that is installed via Homebrew, because they always end up in that directory by default. It only depends on the specific settings of individual users.Īs suggested in the introduction to this article, another way to find out which Homebrew packages are installed on a Mac is to simply point to the ls command to indicate where the Homebrew packages are installed: Nevertheless, Barrel is still a very popular way to easily install, maintain, and manage a variety of Mac applications as well. If you enter a command and nothing comes back, it simply means that you haven’t installed any Mac apps through the incubator, which isn’t a very unusual situation, as many Mac users only use Homebrew in command line tools and binaries and not on other Mac devices. The ‘Brew list’ command only covers standard Homebrew packages, but you can also display a list of all barrel packages: How to list all Cask Homebrew packages on a Mac If you’re a developer, you might also be interested in getting node.js and nom and installing an updated Python 3 package on your Mac.
If you’re looking for some notable packages, check out this list of the best Homebrew packages available for Mac users. The result would be the same, but now it’s stored in a “homebrewpackages.txt” file that you can share with someone else or document for other purposes. It can also be useful to export a list of Homebrew packages installed in a text file, which can be done by directing the result of the filter list to a plain text file, as follows: You may have more or more filtering packages installed, depending on your setting.