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brew / rank 181

Install hello with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper

Program providing model for GNU coding standards and practices. Version 2.12.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install hello.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install hello

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install hello

MacPorts ports tree · mail/hello/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install hello

Debian stable package indexes · hello · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install hello

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · hello · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#hello

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/he/hello/package.nix · source: api.github.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install hello

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · hello · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Program providing model for GNU coding standards and practices

Commands and aliases

  • hello

history

Project history and usage

GNU Hello is the GNU Project's intentionally small greeting program and sample package. Its job is not only to print a friendly greeting, but to demonstrate GNU package structure, coding conventions, localization, documentation, and release practice around a tiny program.

That makes it a classic package-manager specimen: the runtime behavior is trivial, while the source distribution exercises the machinery expected of a serious GNU package.

Project history

GNU Hello dates back to the early 1990s. The GNU FTP archive lists early 1.x patch files and a 1.3 tarball in 1992 and 1993, then later 2.x releases across the 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, and 2026.

The project has served as a stable reference point for GNU maintainership. Because the core program is deliberately simple, changes in the package often illustrate build-system, translation, portability, and distribution practice rather than application complexity.

Adoption history

GNU Hello appears in traditional Unix-like packaging systems because it is small, portable, and useful as a smoke test for source-based and binary package workflows. The supplied package metadata lists Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Ubuntu, and openSUSE packaging.

GNU Guix documentation uses GNU Hello as an example package, which reinforces its role as teaching material for package definitions, source fetching, checksums, build systems, and dependency declaration.

How it is used

End users run `hello` to print a greeting. The program is often more important to developers and packagers than to interactive users, because it provides a minimal but complete GNU-style source distribution.

There is no normal per-user configuration file or credentials file: the package is a command-line demonstration program, not a stateful client.

Why package nerds care

GNU Hello is valuable precisely because it is over-equipped for its surface behavior. It lets maintainers test compiler invocation, gettext catalogs, Texinfo documentation, Autotools-style release layout, checks, install targets, and package metadata without the noise of a large application.

It is the package equivalent of a tuning fork: small enough to understand at a glance, but formal enough to reveal whether a packaging system handles conventional GNU software correctly.

Timeline

  • 1992: GNU FTP archive lists early Hello 1.0 to 1.1 patch material.
  • 1993: GNU FTP archive lists the Hello 1.3 source tarball.
  • 2002: GNU FTP archive lists the 2.1.x release line.
  • 2014: GNU FTP archive lists Hello 2.10.
  • 2022: GNU FTP archive lists Hello 2.11 and 2.12.x releases.
  • 2026: GNU FTP archive lists Hello 2.12.3.

Related projects

  • GNU Coding Standards explain the conventions Hello is commonly used to demonstrate.
  • GNU Guix uses Hello in package-definition examples.
  • Autoconf, Automake, gettext, and Texinfo are closely related to the style of GNU source distribution that Hello exemplifies.

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

CommandKindExposureNote
helloexecutableindexed executableDiscovered 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 version2.12.3
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
  • okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:hello
Version2.12.3
Package managerHomebrew
Homepagehttps://www.gnu.org/software/hello/
Bottlenot recorded
Servicenone 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.

Debian apt95%

hello 2.10-5

example package based on GNU hello

https://www.gnu.org/software/hello/

sudo apt install hello
  • Section: devel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: hello from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Nix95%

hello

nix profile install nixpkgs#hello
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/he/hello/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Ubuntu apt95%

hello 2.10-3build1

example package based on GNU hello

https://www.gnu.org/software/hello/

sudo apt install hello
  • Section: devel
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 1 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: hello from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
dnf95%

hello 2.12.3-2.fc45

Prints a familiar, friendly greeting

https://www.gnu.org/software/hello/

sudo dnf install hello
  • License: GPL-3.0-or-later AND GFDL-1.3-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: hello
  • 2 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: hello from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

hello 2.12.3-1.4

A Friendly Greeting Program

https://www.gnu.org/software/hello

sudo zypper install hello
  • License: GPL-3.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: hello
  • 1 dependencies
  • 2 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: hello from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

hello-lang 2.12.3-1.4

Translations for package hello

https://www.gnu.org/software/hello

sudo zypper install hello-lang
  • License: GPL-3.0-or-later
  • Category: System/Localization
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: hello
  • 1 dependencies
  • 3 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: hello-lang from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst
MacPorts95%

hello

sudo port install hello
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Hello
MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: mail/hello/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

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.

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