# Install aldo with Homebrew, apt, dnf, Nix, zypper

Morse code learning tool released under GPL. Version 0.7.7 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-10. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install aldo.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:aldo
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install aldo
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install aldo
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: aldo from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install aldo
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: aldo from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#aldo
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/al/aldo/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install aldo
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: aldo from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:aldo
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.7.7
- **Source summary:** Morse code learning tool released under GPL
- **Homepage:** <https://www.nongnu.org/aldo/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-10T13:35:11-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- aldo (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.7.7
## Project history and usage

Aldo is a small console Morse-code trainer written in ISO C++. It belongs to the long-lived class of ham-radio and learning tools that survive in package managers because they do one offline task with minimal ceremony.

### Project history

The official Savannah source dates Aldo's beginning to May 6, 2001 and lists Giuseppe Martino as the original author. Its man page describes it as a console Morse-code trainer developed from scratch in ISO C++ with the GNU C++ standard library and libao.

The NEWS file shows rapid early development in 2003-2005: a Koch training method, callsign exercise, exercise generation, persistent Koch settings, autoconf/automake support, and a 0.7.0 switch to libao. The Savannah cgit summary shows later maintenance tags through v0.7.8 in 2013.

### Adoption history

Aldo appears in the supplied package facts across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, and Nix. That is the adoption profile of a stable utility whose upstream is quiet but whose source remains portable enough for distributions to keep carrying.

Its Debian-oriented man page and Savannah hosting reflect an older GNU/Linux packaging culture: source tarballs, man pages, GPL licensing, and a user-specific dotfile under the home directory.

### How it is used

Running `aldo` opens a menu-driven console trainer with Blocks, Koch, File, and Callsign exercises. The Koch mode starts with two Morse characters at full speed and adds characters as the learner reaches the target recognition threshold.

Configuration is stored in `~/.aldorc`; the source creates a default config if that file is missing. Audio output is handled through libao, so device selection follows the selected libao driver.

### Why package nerds care

Aldo is significant less because it is large and more because it is archetypal: a tiny GPL command-line program, old enough to have moved through SourceForge-era email addresses and Savannah, still packaged by modern distros.

For package maintainers, the interesting bits are exactly the boring ones: libao linkage, old C++ code, man page availability, and a stable home-directory config file.

### Timeline

- 2001-05-06: Source header records the project beginning.
- 2003-07-06: NEWS records Aldo 0.5.0 with Koch method and exercise-from-file support.
- 2004-11-20: Man page date for the Debian-oriented manual page.
- 2005-10-04: Aldo 0.7.0 switched to libao and removed soundcard configuration.
- 2013-07-16: Savannah cgit shows v0.7.8 tag and last listed maintenance commits.

### Related projects

- Aldo's closest technical dependency is libao, used for portable audio output.
- Its training methods place it near other Morse and amateur-radio learning utilities rather than general productivity suites.

### Sources

- <https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/aldo.git>
- <https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/aldo.git/plain/NEWS>
- <https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/aldo.git/plain/aldo.1>
- <https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/aldo.git/plain/src/main.cc>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: ~/.aldorc
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - aldo - 0.7.8-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: aldo from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Morse code training program | https://www.nongnu.org/aldo/
- Nix - aldo: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/al/aldo/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - aldo - 0.7.8-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: aldo from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Morse code training program | https://www.nongnu.org/aldo/
- dnf - aldo - 0.7.7-20.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: aldo from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | A morse tutor | http://aldo.nongnu.org/
- zypper - aldo - 0.7.8-2.5: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: aldo from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Console-based morse tutor | https://www.nongnu.org/aldo


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/aldo.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/aldo.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph