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Homebrew Cask – CLI workflow for the administration of Mac binaries

86 points by dmmalam 13y ago

follower 13y ago
The README summary is a little clearer than the link title: "Get the elegance, simplicity, and speed of Homebrew for the installation and management of GUI Mac applications such as Google Chrome and Adium."
tbrock 13y ago
I'm constantly impressed with Homebrew. The team that maintains it always outdoes themselves when it comes to building new things to make using software on a Mac the best experience possible. On top of that, every single interaction I've had with the project through Adam, Mike, Misty, etc has been a downright pleasure. I wish there was a simple way to donate to the Homebrew project (besides the kickstarter for brewbot). I've checked out this thread on Github but it seems closed: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/issues/20482 https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/issues/20482 If the devs are reading this, consider setting up a link even if it is just to get you all a few beers.
- phinze 13y ago
  Amen to that! Our project is actually independent of the Homebrew team, but we very much model ourselves on the great work they're doing.
Corrado 13y ago
The only "downside" that I see at the moment is that it doesn't recognize apps that are installed in another way. Given that I've installed most of the software that I need already it makes Cask much less useful to me. If there was some way to let Cask scan your system and know that I've already installed google-chrome and adium that would be cool. Quite a few of the apps I use (iTerm2, ST3, Chrome, Adium, etc.) update themselves periodically. I wonder how Cask deals with that?
- phinze 13y ago
  > Quite a few of the apps I use (iTerm2, ST3, Chrome, Adium, etc.) update themselves periodically. I wonder how Cask deals with that? Sparkle-based self-updating apps will self-update in place. For apps like that, the current policy is to have a Cask version of 'latest', and letting the apps self update. I've been doing this for some time and I've found it works out AOK. It's nice to be able to click the "Update & Relaunch" and know I'm not messing anything up. :)
- glenjamin 13y ago
  > If there was some way to let Cask scan your system and know that I've already installed google-chrome and adium that would be cool. I'd love to see this too - I'm keen on the idea of Cask, but at the moment my system is fairly complete.
- lstamour 13y ago
  Apple actually has a few ways of making a list of installed apps, as shown in System Information. More on this buried in http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2765063/how-can-i-discover-what-apps-are-installed-on-os-x-using-objective-c-or-macruby http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2765063/how-can-i-discove... ... My fav. tricks tend to be all the nice -xml commands Apple offers. Oh ... and "Installations" probably lists all the receipts from running graphical installers, this being different from drag-and-drop .app lists which you can also find.
SmileyKeith 13y ago
There are a few things I don't like about this homebrew-cask. My biggest issue currently, now that the installation path can be specified as /Applications instead of ~/Applications[0], is that it makes a symbolic link from its install location to the Applications folder. Since the standard for GUI applications on OS X is to have some built in update system, I just want the applications to be copied to my install location and left alone. This means it would only automate the install process which I think would be better then managing their lifecycle. [0]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/USAGE.md#options https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/USAGE.md...
- actionscripted 13y ago
  I believe if you're going the Homebrew route you're accepting the cask's versions of things as a means to synchronize installations. This could be handle for teams that need to be using the same versions of specific libraries or apps, system administrators who want to manage upgrades paths, etc. It could also be as simple as "that's the way it works because that's how homebrew works". It's all symlinks, and I personally am a fan because if I want to cleanup what's been done with Homebrew it's very easy. I do completely understand your point, and agree to a certain extent, but I'm sure there are situations where you wouldn't want things simply copied and left to run/update on their own.
  - SmileyKeith 13y ago
    I don't think this synchronizes installations since the forumla[0] are overwritten with each update. If someone updates one of them the specific version you downloaded elsewhere will not be downloaded again. I definitely understand why homebrew works this way, but the logic for symlinking the applications is all in this extension[1] so this could easily be changed. I agree that symlinks is better for tools typical to homebrew but for this it's not like it symlinks your preference files so you're not actually cleaning up any junk if you uninstall the application through cask, it's the equivalent of just dragged it to the trash. Also the applications will still attempt to update so it's not managing versions that way either. [0]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/tree/master/Casks https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/tree/master/Casks [1]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/lib/cask/artifact/app.rb#L20 https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/lib/cask...
zachpendleton 13y ago
I've used Cask for a few months now and it's been great as promised. Developers are responsive and accepted my formula additions quickly. So glad to see it on HN; can't recommend it enough.
fanquake 13y ago
Cool to see this up on Hacker News. The project has been growing quite a lot over the past few months. We've expanded from managing the installation of just apps, to now include support for installing Font's, Widgets and QuickLook Plugins. We've now also got separate repos for alternate app versions as well as fonts, you can find them @ https://github.com/caskroom/ https://github.com/caskroom/ If anyone has questions we're normally hanging out in #homebrew-cask on Freenode
elyase 13y ago
Is there some way to also automate installs from the App Store?
- phinze 13y ago
  Alas there is not AFAIK. For all the research I've done on this, the only conclusion I've been able to draw is that the MAS is anti-automation (if not in intent, at least in its current design). :(
zhemao 13y ago
Speaking of which, is anyone working on allowing Homebrew itself to do binary package management? The lack of binary package management is one of the main reasons I give when people ask me why I mainly use Linux on my Macbook Air. I understand this will add the complication of needing to host the binaries somewhere, but it would be quite useful, since some packages take a long time to compile.
- meikyo 13y ago
  It already has this kind of functionality, it is called bottles and most of the bigger packages like Qt are already available as binaries. Recently I've noticed that some of the smaller ones are also becoming available which is nice.
  - zhemao 13y ago
    Oh cool! I did not know that. I'll still be sticking to Arch Linux though. I'd have a hard time adapting to using a non-tiling window manager full time.
    - bwilliams 13y ago
      I moved from a tiling WM to OS X a few years back with no big issues. Even then there are partial solutions such as https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst
- onedognight 13y ago
  It already has binaries. The current problem is that most of the binaries are dependent on the prefix being "/usr/local", and those that aren't need to be marked as such by hand. Search for "cellar :any" in your formulas: grep -r "cellar :any" $(brew --prefix)/Library/Formula I get 22/2597 that are prefix independent.
pyotrgalois 13y ago
I have been using this for the last month. Very useful, especially the Brewfile.
DEinspanjer 13y ago
Trying it out, and pretty happy so far, but I also have a lot of applications that I've previously installed manually, and I'm finding it tedious to install via cask then delete from /Applications and hope everything migrates over properly. It is more challenging with stuff like iStat-Menus which I'm really not sure how to migrate.
ashishb 13y ago
I wrote about Cask as well as other tools sometimes back, http://ashishb.net/tech/mac-101-migrating-from-gnulinux-to-mac-for-software-engineers/ http://ashishb.net/tech/mac-101-migrating-from-gnulinux-to-m...

86 points by dmmalam 13y ago

The README summary is a little clearer than the link title: "Get the elegance, simplicity, and speed of Homebrew for the installation and management of GUI Mac applications such as Google Chrome and Adium."

tbrock 13y ago

I'm constantly impressed with Homebrew. The team that maintains it always outdoes themselves when it comes to building new things to make using software on a Mac the best experience possible. On top of that, every single interaction I've had with the project through Adam, Mike, Misty, etc has been a downright pleasure. I wish there was a simple way to donate to the Homebrew project (besides the kickstarter for brewbot). I've checked out this thread on Github but it seems closed: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/issues/20482 https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/issues/20482 If the devs are reading this, consider setting up a link even if it is just to get you all a few beers.

phinze 13y ago
Amen to that! Our project is actually independent of the Homebrew team, but we very much model ourselves on the great work they're doing.

Corrado 13y ago

The only "downside" that I see at the moment is that it doesn't recognize apps that are installed in another way. Given that I've installed most of the software that I need already it makes Cask much less useful to me. If there was some way to let Cask scan your system and know that I've already installed google-chrome and adium that would be cool. Quite a few of the apps I use (iTerm2, ST3, Chrome, Adium, etc.) update themselves periodically. I wonder how Cask deals with that?

phinze 13y ago
> Quite a few of the apps I use (iTerm2, ST3, Chrome, Adium, etc.) update themselves periodically. I wonder how Cask deals with that? Sparkle-based self-updating apps will self-update in place. For apps like that, the current policy is to have a Cask version of 'latest', and letting the apps self update. I've been doing this for some time and I've found it works out AOK. It's nice to be able to click the "Update & Relaunch" and know I'm not messing anything up. :)
glenjamin 13y ago
> If there was some way to let Cask scan your system and know that I've already installed google-chrome and adium that would be cool. I'd love to see this too - I'm keen on the idea of Cask, but at the moment my system is fairly complete.
lstamour 13y ago
Apple actually has a few ways of making a list of installed apps, as shown in System Information. More on this buried in http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2765063/how-can-i-discover-what-apps-are-installed-on-os-x-using-objective-c-or-macruby http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2765063/how-can-i-discove... ... My fav. tricks tend to be all the nice -xml commands Apple offers. Oh ... and "Installations" probably lists all the receipts from running graphical installers, this being different from drag-and-drop .app lists which you can also find.

SmileyKeith 13y ago

There are a few things I don't like about this homebrew-cask. My biggest issue currently, now that the installation path can be specified as /Applications instead of ~/Applications[0], is that it makes a symbolic link from its install location to the Applications folder. Since the standard for GUI applications on OS X is to have some built in update system, I just want the applications to be copied to my install location and left alone. This means it would only automate the install process which I think would be better then managing their lifecycle. [0]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/USAGE.md#options https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/USAGE.md...

actionscripted 13y ago
I believe if you're going the Homebrew route you're accepting the cask's versions of things as a means to synchronize installations. This could be handle for teams that need to be using the same versions of specific libraries or apps, system administrators who want to manage upgrades paths, etc. It could also be as simple as "that's the way it works because that's how homebrew works". It's all symlinks, and I personally am a fan because if I want to cleanup what's been done with Homebrew it's very easy. I do completely understand your point, and agree to a certain extent, but I'm sure there are situations where you wouldn't want things simply copied and left to run/update on their own.
- SmileyKeith 13y ago
  I don't think this synchronizes installations since the forumla[0] are overwritten with each update. If someone updates one of them the specific version you downloaded elsewhere will not be downloaded again. I definitely understand why homebrew works this way, but the logic for symlinking the applications is all in this extension[1] so this could easily be changed. I agree that symlinks is better for tools typical to homebrew but for this it's not like it symlinks your preference files so you're not actually cleaning up any junk if you uninstall the application through cask, it's the equivalent of just dragged it to the trash. Also the applications will still attempt to update so it's not managing versions that way either. [0]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/tree/master/Casks https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/tree/master/Casks [1]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/lib/cask/artifact/app.rb#L20 https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/lib/cask...

zachpendleton 13y ago

I've used Cask for a few months now and it's been great as promised. Developers are responsive and accepted my formula additions quickly. So glad to see it on HN; can't recommend it enough.

fanquake 13y ago

Cool to see this up on Hacker News. The project has been growing quite a lot over the past few months. We've expanded from managing the installation of just apps, to now include support for installing Font's, Widgets and QuickLook Plugins. We've now also got separate repos for alternate app versions as well as fonts, you can find them @ https://github.com/caskroom/ https://github.com/caskroom/ If anyone has questions we're normally hanging out in #homebrew-cask on Freenode

elyase 13y ago

Is there some way to also automate installs from the App Store?

phinze 13y ago
Alas there is not AFAIK. For all the research I've done on this, the only conclusion I've been able to draw is that the MAS is anti-automation (if not in intent, at least in its current design). :(

zhemao 13y ago

Speaking of which, is anyone working on allowing Homebrew itself to do binary package management? The lack of binary package management is one of the main reasons I give when people ask me why I mainly use Linux on my Macbook Air. I understand this will add the complication of needing to host the binaries somewhere, but it would be quite useful, since some packages take a long time to compile.

meikyo 13y ago
It already has this kind of functionality, it is called bottles and most of the bigger packages like Qt are already available as binaries. Recently I've noticed that some of the smaller ones are also becoming available which is nice.
- zhemao 13y ago
  Oh cool! I did not know that. I'll still be sticking to Arch Linux though. I'd have a hard time adapting to using a non-tiling window manager full time.
  - bwilliams 13y ago
    I moved from a tiling WM to OS X a few years back with no big issues. Even then there are partial solutions such as https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst
onedognight 13y ago
It already has binaries. The current problem is that most of the binaries are dependent on the prefix being "/usr/local", and those that aren't need to be marked as such by hand. Search for "cellar :any" in your formulas: grep -r "cellar :any" $(brew --prefix)/Library/Formula I get 22/2597 that are prefix independent.

pyotrgalois 13y ago

I have been using this for the last month. Very useful, especially the Brewfile.

DEinspanjer 13y ago

Trying it out, and pretty happy so far, but I also have a lot of applications that I've previously installed manually, and I'm finding it tedious to install via cask then delete from /Applications and hope everything migrates over properly. It is more challenging with stuff like iStat-Menus which I'm really not sure how to migrate.

ashishb 13y ago

I wrote about Cask as well as other tools sometimes back, http://ashishb.net/tech/mac-101-migrating-from-gnulinux-to-mac-for-software-engineers/ http://ashishb.net/tech/mac-101-migrating-from-gnulinux-to-m...