# Install bbe with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix, zypper

Sed-like editor for binary files. Version 0.2.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install bbe.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:bbe
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install bbe
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install bbe
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: editors/bbe/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install bbe
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#bbe
```

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

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install bbe
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:bbe
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.2.2
- **Source summary:** Sed-like editor for binary files
- **Homepage:** <https://sourceforge.net/projects/bbe-/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bbe (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.2.2
## Project history and usage

bbe is a small sed-like editor for binary files. Instead of line-oriented text editing, it applies insert, delete, change, replace, and conversion operations to byte blocks in a stream.

### Project history

Timo Savinen published the first bbe release, version 0.1.0, on 2005-09-15. The official project page describes the tool as developed in a GNU/Linux environment and distributed under GPL-2.0-or-later.

The 2005-2006 news log shows a compact burst of development: new block commands, script-file driven commands, binary operations, performance fixes, and documentation installation changes.

### Adoption history

The official news page records Debian acceptance on 2005-11-06. The supplied package-manager facts show continuing availability in Homebrew, Debian, MacPorts, Nix, Ubuntu, and zypper.

### How it is used

bbe is used where a stream editor is convenient but the data is not line-oriented text: byte-range editing, block extraction, binary replacements, and scripted conversion of structured binary input.

### Why package nerds care

Package nerds care about bbe because it occupies a tidy old Unix niche: a tiny single-purpose filter that brings sed's scripting style to binary streams. Its Debian-era adoption and survival in multiple package managers make it a good example of small C utilities that remain useful long after active upstream development slows.

### Timeline

- 2005-09-15: First version 0.1.0.
- 2005-11-06: Accepted into Debian unstable and testing.
- 2006-11-05: Version 0.2.2 released with command `x` added.

### Related projects

- Related tools include sed, dd, xxd, hex editors, and other byte-stream filters used in Unix binary-processing pipelines.

### Sources

- <https://bbe-.sourceforge.net/>
- <https://bbe-.sourceforge.net/bbe.html>
- input:source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - bbe - 0.2.2-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: bbe from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | sed-like editor for binary files | http://sourceforge.net/projects/bbe-/
- Nix - bbe: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/bb/bbe/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - bbe - 0.2.2-5: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: bbe from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | sed-like editor for binary files | http://sourceforge.net/projects/bbe-/
- zypper - bbe - 0.2.2-3.24: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: bbe from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Binary Block Editor | https://sourceforge.net/projects/bbe-/
- MacPorts - bbe: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: editors/bbe/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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