# Install glulxe with Homebrew, apt

Portable VM like the Z-machine. Version 0.6.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install glulxe.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:glulxe
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install glulxe
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install glulxe
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:glulxe
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.6.1
- **Source summary:** Portable VM like the Z-machine
- **Homepage:** <https://www.eblong.com/zarf/glulx/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/erkyrath/glulxe>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- glulxe (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.6.1
## Project history and usage

Glulxe is Andrew Plotkin's reference-style interpreter for Glulx, the 32-bit virtual machine used by many interactive-fiction works. Package users install it to run `.ulx` Glulx game files from the command line or through Glk front ends.

### Project history

Glulx was designed as a portable interactive-fiction virtual machine similar to the Z-machine, but with 32-bit data and addresses and native Glk I/O support. Glulxe, short for Glulx Execute, implements that VM in C and is maintained by Andrew Plotkin under the `erkyrath` GitHub account.

The Glulxe README and version history show a long, conservative evolution: profiling and acceleration work appeared in 2009, floating-point support in 2010, memory checks and Glk dispatch improvements followed, the project switched from an older ad hoc license to MIT in 2016, and later releases added debugger and autosave support for RemGlk-oriented use.

### Adoption history

Glulxe's adoption is tied to the Inform and Glulx interactive-fiction ecosystem rather than to general gaming. The official Glulx page links the interpreter, the VM specification, Inform compiler support, sample game files, Quixe for browser execution, and Lectrote for desktop apps, placing Glulxe among the reference tools that keep older and newer IF works runnable.

Distribution through Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu makes Glulxe accessible outside IF Archive downloads, which helps authors, archivists, and players test Glulx story files with a standard interpreter.

### How it is used

Practitioners build Glulxe against a Glk library such as CheapGlk, GlkTerm, or RemGlk, then run `glulxe filename.ulx` to execute a Glulx game file. The README also documents autosave, autorestore, single-turn operation, RNG seeding, debugger builds, and platform-specific Glk library integration.

Interactive-fiction authors use it to test Inform-generated Glulx works; preservation-minded users use it as a dependable VM runner; and UI authors pair it with Glk libraries or RemGlk to connect text-adventure execution to terminal, desktop, or web-facing interfaces.

### Why package nerds care

Glulxe is package-worthy because it turns a niche literary-computing runtime into a stable command-line executable. Its significance is less about popularity metrics and more about archival durability: a small VM interpreter lets decades of Glulx IF artifacts remain executable on ordinary Unix-like systems.

### Timeline

- 2009: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2009: Version 0.4.4 added profiling code and function acceleration.
- 2010: Version 0.4.6 added floating-point math support.
- 2016: Version 0.5.3 switched the project to the MIT license.
- 2022: Version 0.6.0 added Glulx spec 3.1.3 opcode support and Unix autosave support.
- 2023: Version 0.6.1 added RNG seeding and Windows configuration improvements.

### Related projects

- Glk provides the I/O abstraction Glulxe depends on.
- Inform 6 and Inform 7 can produce Glulx game files.
- Quixe and Lectrote are related Glulx interpreters or wrappers for browser and desktop use.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/erkyrath/glulxe>
- <https://github.com/erkyrath/glulxe>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erkyrath/glulxe/master/README.md>
- <https://www.eblong.com/zarf/glulx/>


## 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 - glulxe - 0.6.1-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: glulxe from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Interpreter for glulx interactive fiction | https://www.eblong.com/zarf/glulx/
- Ubuntu apt - glulxe - 0.5.4-1.1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: glulxe from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Interpreter for glulx interactive fiction | https://www.eblong.com/zarf/glulx/


## Combined YAML source

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