Install gtk+3 with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• gtk-builder-tool
• gtk-encode-symbolic-svg
• gtk-launch
• gtk-query-immodules-3.0
• gtk-query-settings
• gtk-update-icon-cache
• gtk3-demo
• gtk3-demo-application
• gtk3-icon-browser
• gtk3-update-icon-cache
• gtk3-widget-factory

Project history

GTK+ 3.0.0 tarballs appeared in the GNOME source archive on 2011-02-10, and the GitLab tag for 3.0.0 carries the same date. The GTK 3 API documentation identifies the Gtk namespace as API Version 3.0 and Library Version 3.24, with GTK Development Team authorship and GNOME-hosted source.

GTK+ 3 kept the same project foundation described by GTK: a C toolkit on top of GLib with language binding support, LGPL licensing, and GNOME project hosting. It evolved the toolkit while preserving a long-lived gtk+-3.0 pkg-config identity for applications and distributions.

GTK+ 3.24.0 is the long-lived 3.x branch point visible in official NEWS and GNOME source archives. Package managers often expose GTK+ 3 as a stable dependency target distinct from GTK+ 2 and GTK 4 because applications may deliberately bind to one API generation.

Adoption history

GTK+ 3 adoption followed GNOME platform adoption and broad application use. The official GTK site lists applications built with GTK across GNOME and non-GNOME software, including GIMP, Web, Inkscape, Evolution, Transmission, HandBrake, Maps, and other desktop applications.

Bindings and wrappers were central to adoption. The GTK site highlights C, JavaScript, Perl, Python, Rust, and Vala, while PyGObject documentation presents GTK, GStreamer, WebKitGTK, GLib, and GIO as GObject-based libraries available to Python programs.

How it is used

Developers build GTK+ 3 applications against gtk/gtk.h and pkg-config metadata such as gtk+-3.0. The docs identify dependencies including GObject, ATK, Pango, and GDK, and cover compiling/running applications, CSS, key bindings, widgets, tree/list views, drawing, input, and X11/Windows use.

The Homebrew formula's executable set reflects common GTK+ 3 workflows: gtk3-demo and gtk3-widget-factory exercise widgets; gtk-builder-tool works with GtkBuilder UI definitions; gtk-query-settings reports toolkit settings; gtk-query-immodules-3.0 manages input modules; gtk-launch works with desktop entries; icon-cache tools support themed icons.

Why package nerds care

GTK+ 3 is a dependency boundary package. When an application asks for gtk+-3.0, substituting GTK 4 is not a drop-in answer; packaging has to preserve parallel major API tracks. That is why formula names, pkg-config names, and executable suffixes matter.

For package maintainers, GTK+ 3 also concentrates a desktop stack: GLib/GObject, GDK, Pango, Cairo, GdkPixbuf, ATK, icon themes, input modules, settings schemas, and demos. The formula is as much about reproducible GUI build environments as it is about end-user shared libraries.

Timeline

• 1997: GTK project copyright period begins on the official GTK site.
• 2011: GTK+ 3.0.0 tarballs appeared in the GNOME source archive.
• 2011: GTK+ 3.0.0 was tagged in the GNOME GTK repository.
• 2018: GTK+ 3.24.0 appears in official GTK NEWS as a 3.24 series release point.
• 2019: GTK+ 3.24.4 and later 3.24 tarballs appear in the GNOME source archive, marking the long 3.24 packaging era.

Related projects

• GLib/GObject, GDK, Pango, Cairo, GdkPixbuf, and ATK form the immediate GTK+ 3 platform dependency set documented by the GTK 3 API pages.
• GTK+ 2 is the earlier API track; GTK 4 is the later API track. GTK-Doc and gi-docgen are documentation-generation projects tied to how GTK and other GObject libraries publish API references.

Sources

• https://docs.gtk.org/gtk3/
• https://download.gnome.org/sources/gtk+/3.0/
• https://download.gnome.org/sources/gtk+/3.24/
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/raw/main/README.md
• https://gitlab.gnome.org/api/v4/projects/GNOME%2Fgtk/repository/tags?search=^3.0.0$
• https://www.gtk.org/