Best Package Manager

Aug 8, 2022 | Linux MacOS

Instead of using the built-in package manager in Linux or some container that never puts the programs files in a usable spot, we will use Homebrew!

I know, it’s an OS X package manager, but it works fantastic on Linux and solves MANY problems.

Main issues it addresses:

  • Older packages from stable Linux distributions
  • Putting the installed packages in easy spots to reference them and modify them when needed.
  • Using sudo can be dangerous and brew installs it to a home directory instead of systemwide without needing sudo.

A good example of this. On Debian and Fedora the package HUGO is old… like really old. Anywhere between version .60 and .90 where home brew installs version .101-extended

Installing Homebrew

Dependencies

Debian or Ubuntu

sudo apt-get install build-essential procps curl file git

Fedora, CentOS, or Red Hat

sudo yum groupinstall 'Development Tools'
sudo yum install procps-ng curl file git
sudo yum install libxcrypt-compat # needed by Fedora 30 and up

Install Script

One command to install it:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Make brew available in terminal

By default homebrew puts itself in an easy to access directory. /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew but there are a variety methods to use it from your prompt.

Official Method

test -d ~/.linuxbrew && eval "$(~/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
test -d /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew && eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
test -r ~/.bash_profile && echo "eval \"\$($(brew --prefix)/bin/brew shellenv)\"" >> ~/.bash_profile
echo "eval \"\$($(brew --prefix)/bin/brew shellenv)\"" >> ~/.profile

The .bashrc Method

Add the following line to ~/.bashrc

eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Note: if you use ZSH then the file you need to edit is ~/.zshrc

Using Homebrew

With homebrew setup here are the commands I use almost daily

  • brew install programname - Install programname using brew
  • brew search programname - Search for programname in brew
  • brew uninstall programname - Uninstall program
  • brew update - Updates brew
  • brew upgrade program - Updates just that one program
  • brew list - List programs in brew

Get Lost? man brew to look at all documentation in terminal or don’t know what a program does? brew info programname

That’s it for the daily syntax

Understanding Homebrew terms

  • keg - Program binaries created from source
  • bottle - Program binaries downloaded
  • cellar - Directory where kegs / binaries are stored
  • tap - git repository
  • cask - mac os native binary (not used in Linux)

There is other stuff to homebrew but read the full documentation if interested here https://docs.brew.sh/Formula-Cookbook#homebrew-terminology

Basics of homebrew on Linux official documentation https://docs.brew.sh/Homebrew-on-Linux

Walkthrough Video

Thank you Homebrew Team

#Ubuntu #Fedora #Arch

See Also