macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install etshlocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install etshMacPorts ports tree · shells/etsh/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew / rank 13140
Install etsh with Homebrew, MacPorts
Two ports of /bin/sh from V6 UNIX (circa 1975). Version 5.4.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install etsh.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Two ports of /bin/sh from V6 UNIX (circa 1975)
Project links
Commands and aliases
- etsh
- sh6
history
Project history and usage
Etsh is a historical Unix shell package that maintains two ports of the Thompson shell from Sixth Edition Unix: an enhanced interactive-compatible shell named etsh and an unenhanced port named tsh. It is packaged less as a mainstream login shell and more as a living, buildable preservation of early Unix shell behavior.
Project history
The project is explicitly dedicated to preserving the Version 6 Unix `sh(1)` lineage. Its sources trace back to the Thompson shell, principally written by Ken Thompson at Bell Labs, with related V6 utilities such as glob, if, and goto included because they were part of the shell's practical command-file environment.
Jeffrey Allen Neitzel has maintained the etsh project since July 2003. The project keeps the historical interface available while adding enough portability and interactive-shell improvements for modern POSIX-like systems.
Adoption history
Etsh's adoption is niche and heritage-oriented rather than mass-market. Official project notes emphasize successful builds on DragonFly BSD, FreeBSD, macOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD, OpenIndiana, and GNU/Linux, and the package appears in Unix-like ports systems for users who want the V6 shell experience on modern machines.
How it is used
Users run etsh or tsh as command interpreters, either interactively or for scripts that fit the V6 shell model. The usage guide frames the shells as a way to do useful work with a small shell plus classic Unix pipelines and external tools such as awk, expr, grep, and sed.
Why package nerds care
Etsh matters to package nerds because it is both software and executable computing history. Installing it through a package manager gives modern systems a maintained port of a pre-Bourne-shell command language, complete with the companion utilities needed for authentic behavior.
It is also a reminder that shell packaging is not just about default user shells: small historical interpreters need careful source provenance, licensing, manpages, and installation paths so they can coexist with modern `/bin/sh` implementations.
Timeline
- 1975: Sixth Edition Unix shipped with the Thompson shell as `/bin/sh`.
- 1979: Seventh Edition Unix replaced the Thompson shell with the Bourne shell, while retaining the older shell as `osh`.
- 2003: Jeffrey Allen Neitzel became principal developer and maintainer of the etsh project.
- 2019: Etsh 5.4.0 manual pages documented the maintained ports and their V6 shell lineage.
Related projects
- tsh is the unenhanced Thompson shell port shipped by the same project, while glob, if, goto, and fd2 provide supporting shell functionality.
- The V6 Sh History site and TUHS source materials provide historical context for the original Thompson shell and related Unix manuals.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
etsh | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
sh6 | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version5.4.0
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:etsh |
|---|---|
| Version | 5.4.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://etsh.dev/ |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
MacPorts95%
etsh
sudo port install etsh- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Etsh
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation