Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-developer?

Posted by o_s_m on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:11AM
from the ask-hn dept.

I just bought a MBA and have heard a lot about Homebrew. There seems to be a ton of packages that it installs. Is this necessary for a non-developer? Would it open me up to a lot more vulnerabilities, or is it like aptitude and only installs those packages when I tell it to? Thank you.

( 10 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by yen223 on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:40AM (#8089184)

I'd say homebrew is a little bit more secure than others, because they are pretty fussy about not installing to system-wide libraries.

That said, I can't think of a reason for a non-developer to use the packages found on homebrew.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by CyberFonic on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:35AM (#8089179)

I've been using a MBP (currently on v10.9.4) for over five years as a developer and I've never had the need to install or use Homebrew. All the programs that I use are available as .dmg or .pkg for installation. Of course YMMV.

I suggest that you wait time a "must have" program is only available as Homebrew, then go with it. As a general rule, I think it is unwise to install programs that you "think you might" need. As Sanswork hints, Apple App Store is where you'll get your OS updates from.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by o_s_m on Saturday July 26, 2014 @05:51AM (#8089326)

Great answers folks. I don't think I will need it in the immediate future, and will attempt to only install necessary software that I anticipate that I will need. I bought the 4gb RAM MBA and it does well...much better in Chrome than in Safari..still learning.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by caw on Saturday July 26, 2014 @02:27PM (#8090357)

There's a project called CakeBrew (https://www.cakebrew.com/) that was featured on HN a while back. It adds a GUI to homebrew.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by sanswork on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:13AM (#8089137)

It is exactly like aptitude. The choice of packages could open you up to more vulnerabilities but homebrew itself shouldn't.

It's one of the first things I install whenever I reinstall my OS. That said if you're not doing dev I'm not sure what packages on it you are looking for?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by o_s_m on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:21AM (#8089157)

Thanks. In Linux I used aptitude quite often to clean old kernel versions and install other verified software, and it felt good to install software from a relatively safe location. So, does this only install things that are in the Mac App Store?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by xxxmadraxxx on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:31AM (#8089173)

No. Homebrew is pretty much exclusively for installing GUI-less command line 'stuff' in OSX. Things like Nginx, mySQL, RVM, Golang, Bitcoind, etc. etc. Unlikely you'd even need it unless you're doing some kind of development or non-Apple-approved tinkerage.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by sanswork on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:25AM (#8089162)

No, homebrew has a different repository from the app store.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by o_s_m on Saturday July 26, 2014 @03:29AM (#8089170)

Great. I will play around with it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: New to OS X; is homebrew safe to install for non-... by tumdum_ on Sunday July 27, 2014 @04:31AM (#8092267)

Is HN safe from non-developers?

[ Parent | on HN ]