# Install git-if with Homebrew

Glulx interpreter that is optimized for speed. Version 1.3.8 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:git-if
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install git-if
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:git-if
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.3.8
- **Source summary:** Glulx interpreter that is optimized for speed
- **Homepage:** <https://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archive/programming/glulx/interpreters/git/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/DavidKinder/Git>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- git-if (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.3.8
## Project history and usage

Git, packaged by Homebrew as `git-if`, is an interpreter for the Glulx virtual machine used by interactive-fiction games. The package name avoids confusion with the Git version-control system.

### Project history

IF Archive identifies the interpreter as Iain Merrick's Git and describes it as optimized for speed. Archived binaries show releases for PocketPC, MS-DOS, Windows console mode, and source distributions, while the maintained GitHub repository describes the code as originally written by Merrick and later maintained by David Kinder.

### Adoption history

Git's adoption is tied to the Glulx ecosystem rather than general-purpose developer tooling. IFWiki lists it as a Glulx interpreter used by projects such as Gargoyle, Windows Git, and other interactive-fiction front ends, giving it a role as a fast interpreter core for playable story files.

### How it is used

Practitioners use Git by building it with a Glk library, which provides the user interface layer. The GitHub README notes that Windows Glk support is included for Windows builds, while Unix-style builds depend on an appropriate Glk implementation.

### Why package nerds care

The package is a naming oddity: `git-if` installs software named Git that is unrelated to source control. It is useful to package catalogs because it preserves an interactive-fiction interpreter without colliding with the ubiquitous `git` command.

### Timeline

- 2004: IF Archive records PocketPC and MS-DOS builds for early 1.0.x releases.
- 2010: DavidKinder/Git repository created on GitHub.
- 2017: IF Archive records source and Windows console builds for Git 1.3.5.
- 2023: IF Archive records source code for Git 1.3.8.
- 2025: IF Archive records a Windows binary of Git 1.3.8 using Windows Glk.

### Related projects

- Git belongs to the Glulx interpreter family alongside Glulxe and front ends such as Gargoyle. It also depends on the Glk interface layer, with Windows Glk serving the Windows build.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/DavidKinder/Git>
- <https://ifarchive.org/if-archive/programming/glulx/interpreters/git/>
- <https://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archive/programming/glulx/interpreters/git>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DavidKinder/Git/master/README.md>
- <https://www.ifwiki.org/Git>


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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