Homebrew Package Manager and OSX is a package manager. Package administrations offers the great benefits and provide success of UNIX and Unix-like OS. Basically, we have talked about Homebrew Package Manager and how to install Homebrew in quite older guide. In short, we can use Homebrew to install either directly or build, compile software from source code – we gave the excellent video before on how to build command line browser tool Links from source code.
Homebrew and Package Manager : What is Package Manager?
Before understanding Homebrew, it is more important to understand what are the package managers are. A software package management software allows easy management of software used in packet form existing on an operating system. This includes installing, updating and uninstalling. Regular users will understand the thing from another guide – Installing .deb package on .rpm Based Linux for Server. the program RPM packages can install the *rpm and delete the programs. dpkg can install *deb packages and remove them. But both can not resolve dependencies because they have no functions to reload software. This allows higher layers of the package managers, such as YUM, APT, pkg-get and others.
A packet contains the pure program files which also stores information of these program files like where they are to be stored, what configurations need to be made ??to the existing system and in most cases, whether additional software needed to make the program working. When you install the program files are in unpacked in the package or in the current system to be installed in, then installation scripts will run. Package (.Pk) and Metapackage (.Mpkg) for Mac OS X / OS X are things we usually use. This gives us a GUI, but lacks many features for the advanced users.
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Homebrew is a package management software too, it simplifies the installation of softwares on OS X. It is a free software project to simplify installation. It is similar in aim and function to MacPorts and Fink which were used before. Homebrew is written by Max Howell.
Basics of Homebrew Package Manager
How to install Homebrew is written in that quite older guide. We used the typically loved Command Line App iTerm2 for the example. So the command we used is :
1 | ruby -e "$(curl -fsSkL raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)" |
to install Homebrew. Now, understand the URL part of the command first :
Point your browser to :
1 | https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go |
This is for understanding only. Details of how raw.github works has been explained before in our guide – Opening Webpage from GitHub Repo for Dev Purpose. This is basically an UNIX script (read about UNIX Shell here). cURL is by default installed on Mac. Obviously, all the components are available here :
1 | https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/tree/master/Library/Formula |
We are using Ruby so far, but a PHP formulae repo for Homebrew is available too :
https://github.com/josegonzalez/homebrew-php
As a starter guide, this amount of information on Homebrew, we think is enough.
