Homebrew

What hackers pick instead

• NixRecommended for reproducible, declarative builds and per-project dev environments with multiple versions side by side, but the learning curve, docs and overall UX are widely called brutal.378recommend
• npmRecommended for JavaScript's huge package ecosystem and easy package installs, though critics say it's a frequent supply-chain attack target and runs install scripts by default.161recommend
• pnpmA faster, disk-efficient npm replacement whose blocked-by-default install scripts and release-age cooldowns help against supply chain attacks, though critics note it doesn't fully stop them.124recommend
• CargoRust's all-in-one build tool and package manager that handles building, testing, docs and publishing with little fuss, though critics cite npm-style supply-chain risks and weak C/C++ interop.123recommend
• GNU GuixFree Linux distribution and package manager for reproducible environments, with rollbacks and source bootstrapping. Critics call it niche, weak on desktop use, and unavailable on Windows and macOS.84recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 566 comments. Each links to the original.

1. I think of homebrew as a curation service; it lets me name a piece of software and install it without having to any special diligence on it.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Homebrew no longer allows bypassing Gatekeeper for unsigned/unnotarized software”

2. Brew actually works very nicely for Linux and is a useful method to enable package management of cli tools/libraries at the user level.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS”

3. Homebrew provides access to a massive catalog of software, including many tools that are not packaged for Fedora, Debian, or Ubuntu.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

4. brew is a decent compromise between "breaking debian" and running newer stuff and newer versions of things for desktop use at least.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders”

5. It's for predictability in upgrades. Homebrew allows you to separate system packages (from apt or dnf) from user packages

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

6. it made it possible for me to work on Linux with teammates on Mac with very little messing around of the setup scripts

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Homebrew 7.0.0”

7. Casks are the only things Homebrew does that some other package manager available on macOS doesn't reliably do better.

   Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Homebrew no longer allows bypassing Gatekeeper for unsigned/unnotarized software”

8. Most will at least want something like https://brew.sh/ to get you current versions of standard Linux utilities

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “MacBook Neo”

9. it's a supplemental thing. I've also found it's useful in this capacity on Linux specifically with LTS distros

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “More Mac malware from Google search”

10. For macOS UI programs and those that need specific permissions and for commercial programs stick with Homebrew

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Strace-macOS: A clone of the strace command for macOS”

11. It's a bit janky around upgrades in my experience, but you're going to have to clarify what you mean.

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “More Mac malware from Google search”

12. homebrew plays well with atomic distros. They are thing in itself, yet getting more popular lately.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

13. Homebrew has been a great way to quickly bootstrap an environment in immutable Linux distributions

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

14. Brew is notably slow compared to the other package managers I use, but never in an unbearable way.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Homebrew 7.0.0”

15. It's already packaged for both Alpine Linux and Homebrew which suits my ad-hoc needs wonderfully!

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Why Nextcloud feels slow to use”

16. anything you can install via Homebrew is a single line to install without additional restrictions

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Googlebook: Designed for Gemini Intelligence – Coming Fall 2026 – Googlebook”

17. I feel homebrew really is a nice interface which is pretty close to conventional package manager

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

18. It's good for getting the latest versions of packages, both for things that aren't in the distro

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Linux Career Opportunities in 2025: Skills in High Demand”

19. a preferred solution for that distro in particular because it is convenient for immutable Linux

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS”

20. opting for a safer install mechanism makes a huge difference, which is we always ought to prefer apt, dnf, over the likes of curlbash, brew, npm

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “The browser catches homograph attacks. Your terminal doesn't”

21. Brew is not anywhere close to a level of supply chain security to be allowed anywhere near production access or production code review.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Homebrew 7.0.0”

22. Homebrew links everything by default (at least that's how it was), so you ended up with all kind of extra junk files all over the place

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Zerobrew: A faster alternative to Homebrew”

23. Neither WinGet nor Homebrew packages/formulae provide authenticity checks. They have integrity checks for file transfer. That's it.

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “7zip.com Is Serving Malware”

24. akin to giving a bunch of internet randos root access to your machine with no oversight, vetting, or code review of any kind

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root”

25. I always found its takeover of /usr/local and the lack of authentication for software installation to be strange decisions.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “Zerobrew: A faster alternative to Homebrew”

26. the pride in aggressively dropping support for Macs that just received a major OS release from Apple only 12 months ago

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Homebrew 7.0.0”

27. Homebrew's insistence on leaving OSes behind that they deem to be "too old" is becoming a problem as the years click by

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Homebrew no longer allows bypassing Gatekeeper for unsigned/unnotarized software”

28. wiping my entire Mac every few years partially to reset whatever mess of Homebrew + MacPorts + Python was lying around

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

29. Then brew stops supporting it and you have to install some finicky 3rd party taps/repos to get the older versions.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Homebrew no longer allows bypassing Gatekeeper for unsigned/unnotarized software”

30. Why not use the various standard and commonplace packaging and distribution methods for application software? Distro repos, tarballs, Homebrew, AppImage, Flatpak, etc.

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Show HN: Fresh – A new terminal editor built in Rust”

31. Since I enabled HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY, downloads have improved for me to the point where download speed is no longer an issue.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Nanobrew: The fastest macOS package manager compatible with brew”

32. It's how I manage all my tooling on the work env and gives me very few issues save usually for only the occasional connection issue

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Phone is about to stop being yours”

33. Usually it blows away everything associated with the app, including cached files, configuration in ~/Library and ~/.config, etc.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “macOS Needs Its Grid Back”

34. Homebrew provides a comprehensive enough JSON API to let people build on Homebrew in useful ways without directly running Ruby

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Nanobrew: The fastest macOS package manager compatible with brew”

35. It's also quite stable, which you'd think more people would prize given the recent and on-going supply chain attacks.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

36. Linux sandbox is long overdue. Was kinda embarrassing that macOS had it first for a tool that runs on both platforms.

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”

37. Homebrew not allowing users to install EOL versions of software with no security patches or updates is a _good_ idea.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Homebrew no longer allows bypassing Gatekeeper for unsigned/unnotarized software”

38. Homebrew runs against a curated and tested package repository maintained by a dedicated team of vetted maintainers.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “I'm returning my Framework 16”

39. that's also one gripe I have with homebrew, even if the idea to HAVE a recipe in a .rb file, is not bad per se.

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “NixOS 26.05 Released”

40. The internal JSON API sounds good for speed but I wonder if it'll break stuff for people using custom scripts.

    Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Homebrew 6.0.0”