# Install intercal with Homebrew, apt, Nix Esoteric, parody programming language. Version 0.34 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install intercal. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:intercal ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install intercal ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install intercal ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: intercal from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#intercal ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/in/intercal/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:intercal - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.34 - **Source summary:** Esoteric, parody programming language - **Homepage:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-04T22:13:35+00:00 ## Executables - convickt (cli) - ick (cli) - convickt (alias) - ick (alias) ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-04 - Package-manager version: 0.34 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: http://catb.org/~esr/intercal/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage C-INTERCAL is Eric S. Raymond's Unix-hosted implementation of INTERCAL, the parody programming language designed by Don Woods and James Lyon in 1972. It packages `ick`, supporting tools such as `convickt`, sample programs, manuals, and a long-running codebase whose maintenance history is itself part of esolang culture. ### Project history The upstream README credits Woods and Lyon with the original INTERCAL language and Raymond with the C implementation. It also records subsequent work by Steve Swales, Michael Ernst, Louis Howell, Brian Raiter, Joris Huizer, Alex Smith, and others. The README describes release 0.29 as a unified deforking of C-INTERCAL with Alex Smith and Raymond as co-maintainers. The project HISTORY and NEWS files show a maintenance style built around keeping an intentionally absurd language buildable on ordinary Unix systems. Release 0.29 in 2010 added a regression-test suite and merged ESR/Alex Smith work; release 0.30 in 2015 was forced partly by the shutdown of Gitorious hosting; release 0.31 in 2019 notes hosting on GitLab; later releases focused on GCC, autoconf, portability, and hardening repairs. ### Adoption history C-INTERCAL survived because it became the canonical Unix package for trying the original esoteric language, not because it served mainstream production programming. Its availability in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, and Nix keeps the joke executable: users can install a real compiler, run historical sample programs, and read manuals that preserve the language's anti-design humor. ### How it is used The README points users to the Revamped Manual and documents the basic compiler invocation `ick foo.i`. The distribution includes manuals, examples in the `pit` directory, editor support, generated parser files for systems without flex/bison, and a debugger/profiler, making it more substantial than a toy interpreter despite the language's parody roots. ### Why package nerds care C-INTERCAL is package-manager folklore: a deliberately painful language with a serious portability trail. It matters because package managers preserve not only practical tools but also cultural artifacts, and because C-INTERCAL turns esolang history into a buildable Unix package with man pages, tests, samples, and release engineering. ### Timeline - 1972: Don Woods and James Lyon designed INTERCAL. - 1990: Eric S. Raymond's C implementation brought INTERCAL to Unix culture. - 2010: C-INTERCAL 0.29 merged ESR and Alex Smith work and added regression testing. - 2015: C-INTERCAL 0.30 moved project hosting after Gitorious shutdown pressure. - 2019: C-INTERCAL 0.31 noted GitLab hosting. - 2026: C-INTERCAL 0.34 focused on code hardening and modern toolchain compatibility. ### Related projects - The README points to CLC-INTERCAL as a related variant implementation. The package also belongs to the broader esolang lineage around languages such as Befunge and Unlambda, both of which appear in C-INTERCAL's examples, interfaces, or release history. ### Sources - CATB documentation, upstream GitLab README/HISTORY/NEWS files, GitLab project metadata, and Homebrew formula metadata. ## Security Notes generalized runtime or code generation signal. - **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium - generalized runtime or code generation signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** intercal - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Requirements:** arch - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** yes - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - intercal - 30:0.30-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: intercal from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | INTERCAL de-obfuscator | http://intercal.freeshell.org/ - Nix - intercal: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/in/intercal/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - intercal - 30:0.30-6: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: intercal from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | INTERCAL de-obfuscator | http://intercal.freeshell.org/ ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://pkg.so/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://pkg.so/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://pkg.so/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://pkg.so/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [go](https://pkg.so/brew/go/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [rust](https://pkg.so/brew/rust/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [lua](https://pkg.so/brew/lua/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [zig](https://pkg.so/brew/zig/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [dart-sdk](https://pkg.so/brew/dart-sdk/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [gambit-scheme](https://pkg.so/brew/gambit-scheme/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [kotlin](https://pkg.so/brew/kotlin/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [typescript](https://pkg.so/brew/typescript/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, compiler, language-runtime, programming-language. - [befunge93](https://pkg.so/brew/befunge93/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, esolang, esoteric, language, language-runtime. - [lolcode](https://pkg.so/brew/lolcode/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, esolang, esoteric, language, language-runtime. - [algol68g](https://pkg.so/brew/algol68g/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, compiler, language, language-runtime, programming. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/intercal.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/intercal.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - pkgdb category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph