install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install glew

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

OpenGL Extension Wrangler Library

Project links

Commands and aliases

glewinfo
visualinfo

history

Project history and usage

GLEW, the OpenGL Extension Wrangler Library, is a C and C++ extension-loading library that discovers OpenGL, WGL, GLX, and EGL capabilities at runtime. It became a standard packaging target because OpenGL applications often need the same generated headers, library, and inspection tools across operating systems.

Project history

GLEW's copyright history names Milan Ikits, Marcelo E. Magallon, and Lev Povalahev in the early 2000s, and the project site records a long release line beginning before the 1.2.5 release in December 2004. The project later moved through SourceForge and GitHub, while continuing to distribute generated release snapshots.

The 1.x series tracked OpenGL 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x extension growth. GLEW 2.0 in 2016 added forward-compatible-context support plus OSMesa and EGL support, and GLEW 2.1 in 2017 added support for OpenGL 4.6.

Adoption history

GLEW's project news records inclusion in the OpenGL SDK and NVIDIA OpenGL SDK in 2007, an important adoption signal for an extension loader. The library's stability, permissive license, and simple include-and-initialize workflow helped it become a default dependency for tutorials, examples, and desktop OpenGL applications.

Package managers usually ship both the library and the `glewinfo` and `visualinfo` utilities. That turns GLEW from a build dependency into a diagnostics package for graphics stacks, useful when comparing driver extension exposure across Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD, and Mesa-based systems.

How it is used

Practitioners include `GL/glew.h`, create a valid OpenGL context, call `glewInit()`, and then test extension or version variables before using optional API entry points. `glewinfo` verifies extension entry points, while `visualinfo` reports visuals or pixel formats.

Developers who need new extension data can regenerate sources with the project's generation workflow, but the README recommends packaged release snapshots for most users.

Why package nerds care

GLEW matters to package maintainers because it smooths over a historically awkward boundary between graphics drivers, OpenGL headers, generated loaders, and application build systems. A distro-provided GLEW package lets many older and portable OpenGL projects avoid vendoring generated extension code.

Timeline

2004: GLEW 1.2.5 released with new extensions and FreeBSD support.
2007: GLEW included in the OpenGL SDK and NVIDIA OpenGL SDK.
2016: GLEW 2.0 added forward-compatible contexts, OSMesa, and EGL support.
2017: GLEW 2.1 added OpenGL 4.6 support.

Related projects

GLEW sits alongside OpenGL, Mesa, GLX, WGL, EGL, GLUT/freeglut, and SDK sample code that needs portable access to extension entry points.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

library-like package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

library-like package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:library-like

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
`glewinfo`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`visualinfo`	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 version2.3.1

manager updated2026-06-22

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:glew
Version	2.3.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://glew.sourceforge.net/
Repository	https://github.com/nigels-com/glew
Last updated	2026-06-22T14:03:34-07:00
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

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.

combined/glew.yml

Used sources

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

Install glew with Homebrew