# Install bzip3 with Homebrew

Better and stronger spiritual successor to BZip2. Version 1.5.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-04.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:bzip3
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install bzip3
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:bzip3
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.5.3
- **Source summary:** Better and stronger spiritual successor to BZip2
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/iczelia/bzip3>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/iczelia/bzip3>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-04T16:53:42+09:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- bunzip3 (alias)
- bz3cat (alias)
- bz3grep (alias)
- bz3less (alias)
- bz3more (alias)
- bz3most (alias)
- bzip3 (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.5.3
## Project history and usage

BZip3 is a modern lossless compressor that explicitly presents itself as a better, faster, stronger spiritual successor to bzip2. It keeps the package shape familiar to Unix users while changing the compression internals substantially.

### Project history

The upstream README describes BZip3 as combining a fast Burrows-Wheeler transform using suffix arrays, an order-0 context-mixing entropy coder, and an RLE/Lempel-Ziv-plus-prediction pass. The project copyright statement identifies Kamila Szewczyk as the main author for the 2022-2023 codebase.

The repository history shows public 1.x tags, and the README credits packaging-oriented autotools work, which helped make the project fit ordinary source-package and distribution build flows.

### Adoption history

BZip3 is much newer and narrower than bzip2, but it has already reached Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Alpine, Arch, MacPorts, Nix, Scoop, Ubuntu, and openSUSE package maps in the input facts. That adoption suggests interest from compression enthusiasts and distribution packagers rather than default system use.

Its adoption pitch is compatibility of workflow, not format compatibility: commands such as `bzip3`, `bunzip3`, `bz3cat`, and `bz3grep` feel familiar to users of bzip2 and gzip-family tools.

### How it is used

Users run `bzip3` to compress, `bunzip3` to decompress, and helper tools such as `bz3cat`, `bz3grep`, `bz3less`, and `bz3more` to inspect compressed files. The README also documents standard autotools-style source builds with `./configure`, `make`, and `make install`.

The README emphasizes text and source-code compression, including benchmarks against xz, bzip2, zstd, and lrzip combinations. That makes the package most relevant for users comparing archival compression ratios rather than seeking maximum decompression ubiquity.

### Why package nerds care

BZip3 is interesting to package nerds because it is a deliberate sequel to a classic package rather than a generic new compressor. Its command naming, helper tools, and packaging-friendly build system make it easy for distributions to slot beside bzip2 for experimentation.

Its significance is still emerging: it is not infrastructure in the way bzip2 is, but it is the sort of package compression fans track to see whether an old format family can be reimagined with modern algorithms.

### Timeline

- 2022: BZip3's main codebase copyright period begins.
- 2022: Public 1.x tags begin in the upstream repository.
- 2023: The README documents the LGPLv3-only project, benchmarks, architecture testing, and packaging-friendly autotools build.
- 2020s: BZip3 appears in multiple Unix and cross-platform package managers as a niche compression tool.

### Related projects

- bzip2 is the explicit spiritual predecessor.
- libsais is credited by the README for Burrows-Wheeler transform construction.
- xz, zstd, lrzip, BSC, and Turbo-Range-Coder appear in the README's comparison and benchmark context.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/iczelia/bzip3/blob/master/README.md>
- <https://github.com/iczelia/bzip3/tags>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/bzip3.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/bzip3.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation