# Install dps8m with Homebrew, Nix

Simulator of the 36-bit GE/Honeywell/Bull 600/6000-series mainframe computers. Version 3.1.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#dps8m.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:dps8m
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install dps8m
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#dps8m
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/dp/dps8m/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:dps8m
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.1.0
- **Source summary:** Simulator of the 36-bit GE/Honeywell/Bull 600/6000-series mainframe computers
- **Homepage:** <https://dps8m.gitlab.io/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-25T13:37:39+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- dps8 (alias)
- prt2pdf (alias)
- punutil (alias)
- tap2raw (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.1.0
## Project history and usage

DPS8M is a simulator for the 36-bit GE, Honeywell, and Bull 600/6000-series mainframes, especially the DPS-8/M line descended from GE-645 hardware and associated with running Multics.

### Project history

The project presents itself as the DPS8M Simulator and credits the DPS8M Development Team across 2006-2025 in its README. Its GitLab project was created in February 2019, consistent with a later public hosting home for a longer-lived simulator codebase.

### Adoption history

DPS8M's adoption is primarily in retrocomputing, operating-system preservation, and Multics study rather than ordinary application development. Packaging in Homebrew and Nix gives users a repeatable way to install a simulator that would otherwise live mostly in source builds and specialist documentation.

### How it is used

Users build or install the simulator, then run dps8 and companion utilities such as tape and printer conversion tools. The official documentation is aimed at end users, operators, developers, and package maintainers, covering installation, compilation, configuration, operation, and troubleshooting.

### Why package nerds care

For package nerds, DPS8M is interesting because it packages a historically specific mainframe simulator with multiple utilities, generated cross-reference documentation, and release-specific omnibus manuals, tying modern Unix package management to preserved 36-bit computing environments.

### Timeline

- 2006: the project README's copyright range begins, indicating the long-running development team history.
- 2016: early alpha and release-candidate tags were present in the GitLab tag history.
- 2019: the GitLab project record was created.
- 2025: official documentation listed release-specific manuals for R3.0.0, R3.0.1, and R3.1.0.

### Related projects

- Multics
- SIMH
- GE-645
- Honeywell 6180
- Bull DPS-8/M

### Sources

- <https://gitlab.com/dps8m/dps8m>
- <https://gitlab.com/dps8m/dps8m/-/raw/master/README.md>
- <https://dps8m.gitlab.io/dps8m/Documentation/>
- <https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/dps8m%2Fdps8m>
- <https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/dps8m%2Fdps8m/repository/tags?per_page=100>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - dps8m: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/dp/dps8m/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/dps8m.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/dps8m.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