I know this runs on Linux too. As a Linux user, I'm unclear on why I might use this instead of apt or dnf, for example. Any Linux users out there have experience with both Homebrew and one of these?
Yes. I daily drive pop os now. Hate to use flatpak for anything. Only install core packages, google chrome and vscode using apt. Almost everything else is installed using homebrew. The idea is have a base stable system for UI and basic shell. Usually get the latest packages from brew. Earlier same base system but had distrobox with arch toolbox. Planning on using this scheme going forward, especially since while I love rolling release, they sometimes might have regressions which I don’t want to deal with right away. And these regressions can be both at system level or user packages level. Having a stable base helps significantly in daily driving linux in real world.
You can have multiple versions of tools installed. But overall, homebrew plays well with atomic distros. They are thing in itself, yet getting more popular lately. Im using them at home and on the server, and it feels calmer, because I can't fuck up whole system easily. Considering I'm using llms without sandbox often, this is pure gold.
Homebrew provides access to a massive catalog of software, including many tools that are not packaged for Fedora, Debian, or Ubuntu. Homebrew relies on a high level of automation in GitHub actions, which ensures users get the latest versions of tools quickly, rather than waiting for distribution-specific repositories. The Homebrew approach also decouples the underlying system from what you choose to install in user-space.
Small note: You need admin privileges only once for the first install which creates a new user `linuxbrew` and everything is based around `/home/linuxbrew` prefix. The issue is on systems where getting an admin access is not possible, you cannot ‘reliably’ install to a different prefix. It is currently unsupported.
Honestly, I would settle for a custom prefix if it tells me exactly what packages will break and what won’t without having to read each and every formula recipe.
That’s one thing that bothered me for a while and I did not have the willpower to explore that direction without having community support.