[skybrian]

I will never use Homebrew again because I'm still sore that they dropped support for a Mac OS version that I was still using and couldn't upgrade because Apple didn't support my hardware anymore.

Any decent project should have a way to install without Homebrew. It's really not necessary.

[jeroenhd]

> and couldn't upgrade because Apple didn't support my hardware anymore

I'd classify that as an Apple problem rather than a Homebrew problem. If Apple themselves cannot be arsed to support an OS version, why would a volunteer project take on such a challenge?

For every piece of software I've fetched using Homebrew, there's a "compile from source" option available on Github or some other source repo.

[spockz]

And if there isn’t that option explicitly highlighted, one can always look at the formula in homebrew for the instructions.

[trinix912]

It wouldn’t cost Homebrew folks much to add a flag to skip dependency version checking which would solve most issues with using older macOS. But they don’t want to, and have closed all issues asking for it as wontfix.

[jeroenhd]

> But they don’t want to

Seems like good enough a reason for them not to do it.

Their tooling is open-source, surely the few people still using unmaintained versions of macOS can create a `LegacyHomeBrew/brew` repository with patches for old macOS versions? It would also be a good place to stuff all the patches and workarounds that may be necessary to support old macOS versions.

[spike021]

Is this something you could add as a hot fix yourself and submit a PR for?

[trinix912]

They said they don’t want that [1]. It’s not just me, several people have asked for it. Maintaining an extra fork just for that is also out of the question for most people.

[1] https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/issues/14217

[saagarjha]

Most volunteer projects do this.

[jajuuka]

Was gonna say the same thing. There are tons of projects that support older unsupported OS versions or even different platforms. Whether that's macOS, Windows, or older versions of the Linux kernel.

[coldtea]

>I will never use Homebrew again because I'm still sore that they dropped support for a Mac OS version that I was still using and couldn't upgrade because Apple didn't support my hardware anymore.

How old was it? With macOS "running an old version" is not really a viable or advisable path beyond a certain point. Might be something people want to do, might it a great option to have, but it's not very workable nor supported by Apple and the general ecosystem.

>Any decent project should have a way to install without Homebrew. It's really not necessary.

We don't install homebrew because it's necessary, but because it's convenient. No way in hell I'm gonna install 50+ programs I use one by one using the projects' own installers.

Besides, if "Homebrew dropped support" is an incovenience, "manually look for dozens of individual installers or binaries, make sure dependencies work well together, build when needed, and update all that yourself again manually" is even more of an inconvenience. Not to mention many projects on their own drop support for macOS versions all the time, or offer no binaries or installers.

[marxisttemp]

Why not use MacPorts, which currently supports all the way back to Leopard, has far more packages than Homebrew, has a better design, and was created by the creator of the original FreeBSD ports system who also worked on Apple's UNIX team?

The ubiquity of Homebrew continues to confound me.

[massysett]

I switched to Homebrew after years of Macports because Macports required me to laboriously upgrade all the ports with each major macOS update. Homebrew does not require this. I understand the better design of Macports but in the end Homebrew works well enough and saves much time annually without the need for the manual upgrade.

[mediumsmart]

+1

[armchairhacker]

> and couldn't upgrade because Apple didn't support my hardware anymore.

If you really want, you may be able to upgrade the OS anyways with https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher.

Or use Homebrew on the old OS with TigerBrew (https://github.com/mistydemeo/tigerbrew), but people online suggest MacPorts, not only because it has first-party support but also because it’s apparently better designed.

[wookmaster]

Seems reasonable to not support an OS apple doesn’t support anymore

[vladvasiliu]

I'm fine with homebrew not supporting whatever versions they choose.

I think GP's issue is forcing the use of homebrew for what seems like a rather trivial install. Just make the binary easily downloadable. It's not like you can't open the curled script to see what it fetches and do it yourself. It's just that having to jump through this useless hoop is annoying.

My mac is running the latest version of Tahoe but I never liked homebrew. You can bet I won't install it just for one app.

[bbkane]

Homebrew really helps when you want to install more than one app... And you want to keep them updated... And you want to easily delete some of them at some point.

Managing the install lifecycle with one set of commands for multiple apps is why I love Homebrew

[vladvasiliu]

I use macports for that. Never had any issue with it.

[bbkane]

I never gave MacPorts a fair shot because I tried Homebrew first and it just worked for me.

Glad you get a similar experience with MacPorts.

[shevy-java]

Apple controls these computers? I am using Linux myself; I compile from source though. To me it would seem super-strange to use an operating system where a private entity decides what it wants to do.

[weitendorf]

The people who pay for operating systems are paying for a private entity to decide what the operating system should do. They're paying for someone to compile it from source and get it to run on their computer and maintain it.

That's the whole point. Paying someone for that thing you also know how to do so they can consider that problem solved and focus on the things they know how to do.

[pixl97]

>get it to run on their computer and maintain it.... forever and ever and ever.

Oh way, that last part doesn't exist.

[IlikeMadison]

Gentoo?

[nonethewiser]

Apple only supports for 3 years

[xmprt]

Not sure where you're getting this from, but the latest MacOS works on devices from 2019 so it's at least 6 years of support. And homebrew supports versions from macOS 14 fully (and some support up to 10.15) which means full support for 2018 devices and potentially even devices from 2012 will work.

Sources:

https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility

https://docs.brew.sh/Installation#2

[dubya]

Well, Tahoe doesn't work on 2019 iMacs, and that chart shows the early 2020 Macbook Air isn't eligible either, so support duration varies a bit.

[post-it]

Which device was only supported for three years? Even the final Intel Macs are getting six.

[einr]

More than six. 2019/2020 Intel Macs get Tahoe 26.0 + about three years of security patches for Tahoe. The last Intel Mac will be out of support in probably late 2028.

[pdimitar]

Well, my iMac Pro is not getting Tahoe. That's an Intel Mac. No idea why they figured that's their line in the sand.

[einr]

The iMac Pro is a 2017 computer, although it was sold until 2021. So given that it runs Sequoia, that's anywhere from six to ten years of OS support. OCLP will probably figure out how to patch Tahoe for the iMac Pro soon enough, but until then, you can rejoice in the fact that you don't have to run Tahoe.

It could be worse -- at least you didn't spend tens of thousands on a 2019 model Intel Mac Pro in 2023. (Yes, they still sold them, and owners of those will be SOL in 2028. That's probably the worst OS support story in recent Apple history, and it's for some of their most expensive machines)

[nonethewiser]

I guess I ran into the same thing. I try to install anything with Homebrew and it takes forever then breaks.

[direwolf20]

The whole Apple ecosystem demands continually updates. You don't buy Apple and then complain about it.

[bayindirh]

Homebrew and MacPorts unfortunately do not fit to macOS installation layout very well anymore. Packages installed outside usual places create a lot of headaches during updates.

I also do not prefer to use these for the last 16+ years, and not planning to do so.

[Wowfunhappy]

Consider using MacPorts then, which only recently dropped support for Tiger and supports Leopard.

[mediumsmart]

I went to macports because of that. Not looking back