More tweaks to the README
Still too long, but it reads marginally better.
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Max Howell
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README
122
README
@ -1,34 +1,36 @@
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Homebrew
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========
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Homebrew's purpose is fundamentally the same as MacPorts or Fink, ie. to let
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you easily install other open source software on your Mac.
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Homebrew is a package management system for OS X. In other words it is a tool
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that helps you manage the installation of other open source software on your
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Mac.
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Here's why you may prefer Homebrew to the alternatives:
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1. Zeroconf installation
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1. Zeroconf installation
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Copy the contents of this directory to /usr/local. Homebrew is now ready
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for use.
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2. Or… install anywhere!
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2. Or… install anywhere!
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You can actually stick this directory anywhere. Like ~/.local or /opt or
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/lol if you like. You can even move this directory somewhere else later.
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Homebrew never changes any files outside of its prefix.
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3. The GoboLinux approach
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Packages are installed to their own prefix (eg. /usr/local/Cellar/wget)
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and then symlinked into the Homebrew prefix (eg. /usr/local).
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3. The GoboLinux approach
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Packages are installed into their own prefix (eg. /usr/local/Cellar/wget)
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and then symlinked into the Homebrew prefox (eg. /usr/local).
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This way the filesystem is the package database. As is often the case with
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the simplest possible solution, it makes everything else easier and
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better.
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This way packages can be managed with existing command line tools. You can
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uninstall with rm -rf, list with find, query with du. It also means you
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can easily install multiple versions of software or libraries and switch
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on demand.
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Eg. You can, if you like, rm -rf to uninstall a package. Or use find to
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list the package contents. Or du to see its size.
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Of course you don't have to do anything by hand, we also provide a
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convenient and fully-featured four-letter tool called brew.
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4. You don't have to sudo
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4. You don't have to sudo
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It's up to you. We recommend not--see the relevant later section.
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5. Easy package creation
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5. Easy package creation
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Packages are just Ruby scripts. Generate a template with:
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brew mk http://foo.com/tarball-0.8.9.tgz
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@ -36,18 +38,17 @@ Here's why you may prefer Homebrew to the alternatives:
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Homebrew will automatically open it for you to tweak with TextMate or
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$EDITOR.
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It is trivially easy to modify or customize existing formulae, and there
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is a quick edit command too:
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Or edit an existing formula:
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brew edit foo
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6. DIY package installation
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6. DIY package installation
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MacPorts doesn't support the beta version? Need an older version? Need
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custom compile flags? The Homebrew toolchain is carefully segregated so
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you can build stuff by hand but still end up with package management.
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Just install to the Cellar and then call brew ln to symlink that
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installation into /usr/local, eg.
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installation into your PATH, eg.
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./configure --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/wget/1.10
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make install
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@ -61,46 +62,47 @@ Here's why you may prefer Homebrew to the alternatives:
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This means you can also install multiple versions of the same package and
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switch on demand.
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7. Optimization
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We optimise for Leopard Intel, binaries are stripped, compile flags
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tweaked. Nobody wants crappy, slow software. Apart from MacPorts and Fink.
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7. Optimization
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We optimise for (Snow) Leopard Intel, binaries are stripped, compile flags
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tweaked. Slow software sucks.
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8. Making the most of OS X
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8. Making the most of OS X
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Homebrew knows how many cores you have thanks to RubyCocoa, so it makes
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sure when it builds it uses all of them, (unless you don't want it to of
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course).
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Homebrew knows exactly which Mac you have, and optimizes the software it
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builds as well it possibly can.
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builds as well as it possibly can.
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Homebrew can integrate with Ruby gems, CPAN and Python disttools. These
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tools exist already and do the job great. We don't reinvent the wheel, we
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just improve it by making these tools install with more management
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options.
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tools exist already and do the job great. We don't duplicate packaging
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effort, we just improve on it by making these tools install with more
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management options.
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9. No duplication
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9. No duplication
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MacPorts is an autarky. You get a duplicate copy of zlib, OpenSSL, Python,
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etc. To cut a long story short, Homebrew doesn't. As a result everything
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you install has less dependencies and builds much faster.
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you install has less dependencies and builds significantly faster.
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10. Fork with Git
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The package descriptions are all on git, so just fork to add new packages,
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or add extra remotes to get packages from more exotic maintainers.
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10. Fork with Git
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The formula are all on git, so just fork to add new packages, or add extra
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remotes to get packages from more exotic maintainers.
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11. Surfing the cutting edge
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11. Surfing the cutting edge
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If the package provides a git:// or svn:// url you can choose to install
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that instead and then update as often as you like.
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12. Homebrew has a beer theme
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12. Homebrew has a beer theme
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Beer goggles will help you to evangelise Homebrew more effectively.
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13. Homebrew helps get you chicks
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13. Homebrew helps get you chicks
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There's no conclusive scientific evidence as yet, but I firmly believe
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it's just a matter of time and statistics.
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I know I've made it sound so awesome you can hardly wait to rip MacPorts out
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and embrace the fresh, hoppy taste of Homebrew, but I should point out that it
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is really new and still under heavy development. Thanks!
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is really new and still under heavy development. Eg. *dependency resolution
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and updates are still manual*. Thanks!
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Max Howell -- <http://twitter.com/mxcl>
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@ -112,28 +114,42 @@ so you need Xcode:
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<http://developer.apple.com/technology/xcode.html>
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Also, a lot of build scripts assume MacPorts or Fink on OS X. Which isn't a
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problem until you uninstall them and stuff you built with Homebrew breaks and
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you email me with a bug report. So uninstall them (or rename their root
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folders if you don't want to burn bridges).
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Many build scripts assume MacPorts or Fink on OS X. Which isn't a problem
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until you uninstall them and stuff you built with Homebrew breaks. So
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uninstall them (if you prefer renaming their root folders is sufficient).
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<http://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ#uninstall>
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<http://www.finkproject.org/faq/usage-fink.php#removing>
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Homebrew is self-contained and ready to go. Copy this directory anywhere you
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like. But we recommend installing to /usr/local because:
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Now, download Homebrew:
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git clone git://github.com/mxcl/homebrew.git
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If this leaves you shaking your head because you are installing Homebrew
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*in order to* install git, then try this installer script:
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<http://gist.github.com/179275>
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Homebrew is self-contained so once you've put it somewhere, it's ready to go.
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Copy this directory anywhere you like. But we recommend installing to
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/usr/local because:
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1. It is already in your path
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2. Build scripts always look in /usr/local for dependencies so it makes it
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easier for you personally to build and install software
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You can move the location of Homebrew at a later time, although this *will*
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break some tools because they compile they hardcode their installtion prefixes
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into their binaries. Homebrew does make more effort than competing solutions
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to prevent this though.
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break some tools because they hardcode their installtion prefixes into their
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binaries. Homebrew does make more effort than competing solutions to prevent
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this though.
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If you install outside of your home directory -- don't sudo
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-----------------------------------------------------------
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Finally, if you don't install to /usr/local, you have to add the following to
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your ~/.profile file:
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export PATH=`brew --prefix`/bin:$PATH
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export MANPATH=`brew --prefix`/share/man:$MANPATH
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Don't sudo
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----------
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Well clearly you can sudo if you like. Homebrew is all about you doing it your
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way. But the Homebrew recommendation is: don't sudo!
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@ -229,7 +245,7 @@ There are preliminary instructions on the [wiki][].
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Contributing New Formulae
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=========================
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Formulae are simply Ruby scripts. Generate a formula with most bits filled-in:
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Formulae are simple Ruby scripts. Generate a formula with most bits filled-in:
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brew mk http://foo.org/foobar-1.2.1.tar.bz2
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@ -245,18 +261,10 @@ your own distribution. Maybe you want to support Tiger? Or use special compile
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flags? Go ahead that's what git is all about! :)
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Important Missing Bits
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======================
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1. Package upgrades
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2. Dependency resolution
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Coming soon!
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Licensing
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=========
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Homebrew is mostly BSD licensed although some parts are public domain.
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Individual formulae are licensed according to their authors wishes.
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Homebrew is mostly BSD licensed although you should refer to each file to
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confirm. Individual formulae are licensed according to their authors wishes.
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FAQ
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