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On Debian-based systems, I get a preview of what's going to be installed/updated when I do something with `apt`. With homebrew, I never know how many packages

On Debian-based systems, I get a preview of what's going to be installed/updated when I do something with `apt`. With homebrew, I never know how many packages will be updated and how long it will take, so sometimes when I just need a small utility, suddenly it'll update a bunch of packages and it takes 45 minutes. It's a UI problem.

kristjansson 5y ago
An apt-style 'hey here's what you going to do, confirm/deny' would be _great_ in homebrew
- mikemcquaid 5y ago
  Not sure how to add that prompt by default without breaking existing scripts. Making it non-default seems like it wouldn’t help (given comments here).
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
    The prompt should appear only in interactive mode, so it shouldn't break existing scripts
  - kristjansson 5y ago
    Fair enough. Like the sibling says, checking the moral equivalent of [ -t 0 ] probably distinguishes enough interactive vs non-interactive use to add an interactive-only default. I'd add that script-y usage of brew already can block on user input (e.g. if a cask asks for sudo), so adding a go/no-go check probably only breaks the most determined automators, while the benefits accrue to a wide swath of users (both new and fat-fingered). Regardless, thanks for all the work you (and the community!) do on Homebrew! I wouldn't like macOS half as much (or have bought half as many) without it.
    - mikemcquaid 5y ago
      Yeh, that’s the interactive check we’ve used in the past and unfortunately it still has given false positives and false negatives enough I’m hesitant to make a change this big due to it.
Isthatablackgsd 5y ago
Did you use brew outdated after performing brew update? brew outdated will list outdated app/dependencies that need to be updated. If you want to know the app's dependencies, use the info argument. For example brew info ffmpeg will list the information about FFmpeg and list the dependencies that it uses along with status indication if the dependencies is installed or not. Am I missing something here? I am not sure if it is a UI problem since Homebrew have those functions with a few arguments here and there. Look like you are using a utility that have so much dependencies that it needs or you have habit of using brew upgrade which will prompt to upgrade everything expect pinned apps/dependencies.
- tuatoru 5y ago
  > Am I missing something here? Yes. The principle of least astonishment.

kristjansson 5y ago

An apt-style 'hey here's what you going to do, confirm/deny' would be _great_ in homebrew

mikemcquaid 5y ago
Not sure how to add that prompt by default without breaking existing scripts. Making it non-default seems like it wouldn’t help (given comments here).
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 5y ago
  The prompt should appear only in interactive mode, so it shouldn't break existing scripts
- kristjansson 5y ago
  Fair enough. Like the sibling says, checking the moral equivalent of [ -t 0 ] probably distinguishes enough interactive vs non-interactive use to add an interactive-only default. I'd add that script-y usage of brew already can block on user input (e.g. if a cask asks for sudo), so adding a go/no-go check probably only breaks the most determined automators, while the benefits accrue to a wide swath of users (both new and fat-fingered). Regardless, thanks for all the work you (and the community!) do on Homebrew! I wouldn't like macOS half as much (or have bought half as many) without it.
  - mikemcquaid 5y ago
    Yeh, that’s the interactive check we’ve used in the past and unfortunately it still has given false positives and false negatives enough I’m hesitant to make a change this big due to it.

Isthatablackgsd 5y ago

Did you use brew outdated after performing brew update? brew outdated will list outdated app/dependencies that need to be updated. If you want to know the app's dependencies, use the info argument. For example brew info ffmpeg will list the information about FFmpeg and list the dependencies that it uses along with status indication if the dependencies is installed or not. Am I missing something here? I am not sure if it is a UI problem since Homebrew have those functions with a few arguments here and there. Look like you are using a utility that have so much dependencies that it needs or you have habit of using brew upgrade which will prompt to upgrade everything expect pinned apps/dependencies.

tuatoru 5y ago
> Am I missing something here? Yes. The principle of least astonishment.