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> "brew update no longer migrates legacy keg symlinks, tap names, repository locations, cache locations or cache entries." The biggest thing that has kept me o

> "brew update no longer migrates legacy keg symlinks, tap names, repository locations, cache locations or cache entries." The biggest thing that has kept me on MacPorts and away from Homebrew is that I don't understand half of the terms that they use. What is a keg? What is a tap? From the article you linked, what is a cask? What is the Caskroom? Elsewhere I've heard talk of "bottles" - what is a bottle, in this context? What are formulae?

Hackbraten 8y ago
When I started using Homebrew, I found those terms super intimidating and overly quirky but that went away quickly! Keg: a dedicated subdirectory for each installed package. Cellar: this is where the kegs are. Usually `/usr/local/Cellar`. Formula: a file that tells Homebrew how to build and install a specific CLI package. (Similar to a portfile, I guess?) Tap: repository of formulae, e. g. `homebrew-core` (the repository where Homebrew keeps all the core formulae) Bottle: pre-built binary package. Homebrew usually builds and hosts them for you. At install time, Homebrew downloads and uses them whenever it can so you won’t need to wait through unnecessary source builds. Cask: Represents a package that can’t be built from source. In practice, a Cask usually means something that ends with `.app`. Technically, Homebrew Cask is very much a separate package manager in itself. (You can tell by looking at the individual `brew cask` commands.) That’s because it caters to somewhat different use cases, and because it used to be a separate project before it went on to merge with Homebrew. Caskroom: directory hierarchy for Cask-related bookkeeping. Caskroom is also the name of the former organization in charge of Casks; but that’s history now given all things Cask have officially become part of Homebrew. It’s cool that MacPorts works well for you but hey, maybe try Homebrew some time to find out how you like it? (Disclosure: am one of the core maintainers.)

Hackbraten 8y ago

When I started using Homebrew, I found those terms super intimidating and overly quirky but that went away quickly! Keg: a dedicated subdirectory for each installed package. Cellar: this is where the kegs are. Usually `/usr/local/Cellar`. Formula: a file that tells Homebrew how to build and install a specific CLI package. (Similar to a portfile, I guess?) Tap: repository of formulae, e. g. `homebrew-core` (the repository where Homebrew keeps all the core formulae) Bottle: pre-built binary package. Homebrew usually builds and hosts them for you. At install time, Homebrew downloads and uses them whenever it can so you won’t need to wait through unnecessary source builds. Cask: Represents a package that can’t be built from source. In practice, a Cask usually means something that ends with `.app`. Technically, Homebrew Cask is very much a separate package manager in itself. (You can tell by looking at the individual `brew cask` commands.) That’s because it caters to somewhat different use cases, and because it used to be a separate project before it went on to merge with Homebrew. Caskroom: directory hierarchy for Cask-related bookkeeping. Caskroom is also the name of the former organization in charge of Casks; but that’s history now given all things Cask have officially become part of Homebrew. It’s cool that MacPorts works well for you but hey, maybe try Homebrew some time to find out how you like it? (Disclosure: am one of the core maintainers.)