Homebrew Historical Overview
Source identity
- Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_(package_manager)
- Author/publisher: Wikipedia contributors
- Source version/date: retrieved 2026-09-26; no immutable revision pinned
- Retrieved: 2026-09-26 (UTC date; web and HTTP capture)
- Capture type: technical account of the material used; not a verbatim archive
- Rights: Technical paraphrase; upstream attribution above. No full-original redistribution permission asserted.
- Used by:
- DESIGN §1.1 The gap that is opening: Homebrew history supplies background to the changing platform window.
- DESIGN — Appendix B. References: The secondary version table is background rather than release-policy authority.
Captured material
The historical overview dates Homebrew to 2009, version 1 to September 2016, version 2 to February 2019, Apple-silicon support in version 3 to February 2021, and default JSON formula downloads in version 4 to February 2023. Its version table places Monterey deprecation in version 4.4 (October 2024). This is background only; the archived Homebrew release and support-policy records take precedence for project decisions.
Decision-relevant context
Source locator: History and version/release table. The live article revision ID was not pinned by the earlier archive.
The timeline distinguishes project creation, numbered releases, architecture support, and metadata distribution. Version 2 integrates Linux support; version 3 adds Apple-silicon support; version 4 changes default formula acquisition to the JSON API. These are different milestones, not evidence that the same OS support policy applied throughout.
The article's Monterey/version-table date should not be used as the first date users lost CI support: the September 2024 discussion already records a warning and reallocation of Monterey CI. The earlier summary's October 2024 version-4.4 association is retained as secondary chronology, not substituted for that participant evidence.
Applicability and limits
Dated account of the relevant facts, not a full original or an implementation test.
Project interpretation
Use primary release notices for exact support commitments. The historical overview explains why accumulated packaging knowledge matters, but it cannot prove present package coverage or the feasibility of replacing that corpus.
Omissions and evidence gaps
No immutable Wikipedia oldid was recovered for the earlier account. The full version table and its cited references are not archived. The record does not resolve discrepancies by choosing the later date.
Preservation
This UTF-8 Markdown record is readable without a browser, script, account, or network. Preserve it with the repository and SHA256SUMS; retain superseded records when replacing a source version. Original URLs identify provenance, not a runtime dependency.
Review: 2026-09-26 UTC. Original source re-read against the cited local sections; added locators, conditions, and explicit gaps. No runtime validation is inferred. This account expands the earlier summary without replacing its historical date.