# Install cmatrix with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper
Console Matrix. Version 2.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install cmatrix.
## Install
```sh
sudo av install brew:cmatrix
```
Additional install commands:
### macOS
- Homebrew (100%):
```sh
brew install cmatrix
```
Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata
- MacPorts (94%):
```sh
sudo port install cmatrix
```
Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: games/cmatrix/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
### Linux
- apk (92%):
```sh
sudo apk add cmatrix
```
Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cmatrix from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
- Debian apt (92%):
```sh
sudo apt install cmatrix
```
Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: cmatrix from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
- dnf (92%):
```sh
sudo dnf install cmatrix
```
Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cmatrix 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#cmatrix
```
Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/cm/cmatrix/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- pacman (92%):
```sh
sudo pacman -S cmatrix
```
Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: cmatrix from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
- zypper (92%):
```sh
sudo zypper install cmatrix
```
Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: cmatrix from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst
## Package facts
- **Package key:** brew:cmatrix
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.0
- **Source summary:** Console Matrix
- **Homepage:**
- **Repository:**
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00
## Executables
- cmatrix (alias)
## Install behavior
- Bottle: not available
## Freshness
- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.0
## Project history and usage
CMatrix is a terminal animation that recreates the falling-code look associated with The Matrix. Its appeal is deliberately simple: it is a small ncurses-style command that turns a terminal into a screensaver-like visual toy.
### Project history
The current upstream README credits Chris Allegretta with writing cmatrix and later handing maintenance to the present GitHub project. The README describes the program as based on the Matrix website screensaver and inspired by the 1999 film's visual style.
The GitHub repository was created in 2013 and preserves the old Unix terminal-tool form: build with autotools or CMake, install the binary, and run `cmatrix` for the effect.
### Adoption history
CMatrix became a stock package-manager novelty because it has almost no conceptual setup, is instantly recognizable in demos, and works as a harmless terminal animation. The input package facts list it across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora/dnf, Arch/pacman, Alpine/apk, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE/zypper.
### How it is used
The README documents simple invocation as `cmatrix`, with options such as update speed and color. It also documents movie-like presets such as `cmatrix -lba`, which is the kind of one-command payoff that made it common in screenshots, shell demos, and terminal customization posts.
### Why package nerds care
For package nerds, CMatrix is the archetypal terminal toy: tiny, visual, easy to package, and useful as a smoke test for curses, terminal color, and font behavior. It is not infrastructure, but it is culturally durable in Unix package sets because it demonstrates that package managers carry fun as well as work.
### Timeline
- 2013: Current GitHub repository created.
- 2017: GitHub release 1.2 published as a stable release.
- 2019: GitHub release v2.0 published.
- 2024: Current repository still receives maintenance activity.
### Related projects
- The README explicitly relates CMatrix to the Matrix website screensaver and credits jwz's `xmatrix` module for XScreenSaver as an influence in its contributor notes.
### Sources
-
-
-
## 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 - cmatrix - 2.0-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: cmatrix from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simulates the display from "The Matrix" | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- Debian apt - cmatrix-xfont - 2.0-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: cmatrix-xfont from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | X11 font for cmatrix | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- Nix - cmatrix: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/cm/cmatrix/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - cmatrix - 2.0-6: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: cmatrix from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simulates the display from "The Matrix" | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- Ubuntu apt - cmatrix-xfont - 2.0-6: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: cmatrix-xfont from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | X11 font for cmatrix | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- apk - cmatrix - 2.0-r2: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cmatrix from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Terminal based 'The Matrix' like implementation | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- apk - cmatrix-doc - 2.0-r2: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cmatrix-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Terminal based 'The Matrix' like implementation (documentation) | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- dnf - cmatrix - 2.0-15.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cmatrix from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | A scrolling 'Matrix'-like screen | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- dnf - cmatrix-x11-fonts - 2.0-15.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cmatrix-x11-fonts from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | The font of 'Matrix' for X11 | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- pacman - cmatrix - 2.0-4: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: cmatrix from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A curses-based scrolling 'Matrix'-like screen | https://www.asty.org/cmatrix/
- zypper - cmatrix - 2.0-1.6: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: cmatrix from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | The Matrix screensaver | https://github.com/abishekvashok/cmatrix
- MacPorts - cmatrix: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: games/cmatrix/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/cmatrix.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/cmatrix.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