# Install form with Homebrew, apt, Nix, zypper

Symbolic manipulation system. Version 5.0.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-29. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install form.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:form
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install form
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install form
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#form
```

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

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install form
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:form
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 5.0.1
- **Source summary:** Symbolic manipulation system
- **Homepage:** <https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/form-dev/form>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-29T13:26:59Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- form (alias)
- tform (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 5.0.1
## Project history and usage

FORM is a symbolic manipulation system designed for very large algebraic expressions, especially in high-energy physics. Its official materials emphasize that expression size is limited mainly by disk space rather than RAM, making it a specialist tool for computations that strain conventional computer algebra systems.

### Project history

FORM was started in 1984 by Jos Vermaseren at NIKHEF. The official NIKHEF history describes its evolution across Apollo workstations, Atari ST, NeXT systems, PCs, Linux systems, and multicore machines, while the current GitHub README names Jos Vermaseren as the original author and lists later contributors in the AUTHORS file.

Parallel variants became part of the FORM story: ParFORM was developed for multiprocessor and cluster systems, while TFORM became the multithreaded version for shared-memory machines. The GitHub project was established in 2013 and continues to publish tagged releases, including the 5.0 series in 2026.

### Adoption history

FORM's adoption is concentrated in research computing and high-energy physics rather than general-purpose scripting. The README states that it has been essential for state-of-the-art high-energy-physics computations, and the NIKHEF pages describe an ecosystem of manuals, courses, tutorials, a reference manual, and workshops around the tool.

### How it is used

FORM programs read symbolic expressions from files, apply symbolic or algebraic transformations, and print textual mathematical results. The distributed command set includes form for sequential use and tform for multithreaded use, with optional dependencies such as GMP, MPFR, zstd, zlib, and FLINT improving capabilities or performance.

### Why package nerds care

FORM is package-nerd significant because it is an old, performance-oriented domain tool that still ships as a Unix-style command-line program. It bridges scientific computing, symbolic algebra, disk-backed data structures, and long-running source distribution history, making it a classic example of research software that package managers keep usable outside its original lab environment.

### Timeline

- 1984: FORM development started.
- 1999: ParFORM development era began on multiprocessor systems.
- 2013: Public GitHub repository created and 4.x releases published there.
- 2026: FORM 5.0-series releases published.

### Related projects

- Related FORM variants include ParFORM for distributed-memory multiprocessor systems and TFORM for shared-memory multithreading. FORM also occupies the efficient, large-expression side of the computer-algebra landscape, often used alongside more general CAS tools in hybrid workflows.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/form-dev/form/releases?per_page=10>
- <https://github.com/form-dev/form>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/form-dev/form/master/AUTHORS>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/form-dev/form/master/README.md>
- <https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/aboutform/aboutform.html>
- <https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/maindir/documentation/documentation.html>


## 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 - form - 4.3.1+git20250227+ds-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: form from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Symbolic manipulation system | https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/
- Debian apt - form-doc - 4.3.1+git20250227+ds-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: form-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Documentation for symbolic manipulation system | https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/
- Nix - form: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fo/form/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - form - 4.3.0+git20230104+ds-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: form from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Symbolic manipulation system | https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/
- Ubuntu apt - form-doc - 4.3.0+git20230104+ds-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: form-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Documentation for symbolic manipulation system | https://www.nikhef.nl/~form/
- zypper - form - 5.0.0-1.6: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: form from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | A Symbolic Manipulation System | https://github.com/form-dev/form/
- zypper - form-doc - 5.0.0-1.6: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: form-doc from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Additional documentation for form - A Symbolic Manipulation System | https://github.com/form-dev/form/


## Combined YAML source

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