# Install lynx with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper, scoop

Text-based web browser. Version 2.9.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install lynx.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:lynx
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install lynx
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install lynx
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: www/lynx/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add lynx
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: lynx from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install lynx
```

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

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install lynx
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: lynx from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#lynx
```

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

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S lynx
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: lynx from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install lynx
```

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

### Windows

- Scoop (92%):

```sh
scoop install main/lynx
```

  Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/lynx.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:lynx
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.9.3
- **Source summary:** Text-based web browser
- **Homepage:** <https://invisible-island.net/lynx/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:05:15-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- lynx (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.9.3
## Project history and usage

Lynx is a long-running text-mode World Wide Web browser for character-cell terminals and emulators. It remains useful for terminal browsing, accessibility workflows, remote systems, scripted inspection, and package-minimal environments.

### Project history

The official About Lynx page says Lynx was a product of the Distributed Computing Group within Academic Computing Services at the University of Kansas. It was originally developed by Lou Montulli, Michael Grobe, and Charles Rezac, with Garrett Blythe creating DosLynx and later joining the effort.

Lynx's early history sits close to the early web itself: it used CERN World Wide Web client-library code, grew from pre-WWW hypertext influences, and supported terminal users on Unix, VMS, and other platforms. After departures from Kansas in 1994, development and support continued through maintainers and the lynx-dev community.

Thomas E. Dickey's development page says he became involved through auto-configure work, ncurses/color support, and robustness and security changes. Since the 2.8 release in early 1998, he has acted as patch coordinator for ongoing Lynx development.

The development page also records Lynx's unusual source-control history: very early 1990s development used no source control, most later development used PRCS archives on isc.org, Dickey also maintained local RCS archives, and after the project left ISC in 2015 he produced patches and releases directly from RCS archives.

### Adoption history

Lynx became a standard Unix package because it solves a durable problem: browsing and testing the web from a terminal. The batch metadata lists packages across Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora/DNF, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Scoop, Ubuntu, and openSUSE/Zypper.

Its hosting history reflects long-lived open source infrastructure. The project started at the University of Kansas, moved through Salt Lake Community College, was hosted by ISC beginning in 1999, and moved to Thomas Dickey's Invisible Island site in late 2015 when ISC reduced that style of project hosting.

### How it is used

Lynx is used interactively from terminals to view HTML and follow links without a graphical browser. It also remains valuable for checking whether pages degrade to text, opening web resources over SSH, using simple forms, downloading content, and testing documentation in low-resource or accessibility-minded environments.

The official source configuration documents `lynx.cfg` as the main configuration file, with Unix default placement at `/usr/local/lib/lynx.cfg`; it also documents `~/.lynxrc` as the personal options file and notes that `-cfg` or the `LYNX_CFG` environment variable can override the configuration path.

### Why package nerds care

Lynx is package-manager lore: one of the tools people install on servers so they can inspect HTTP from a shell before `curl` and modern headless browsers became defaults. It is also a portability test case, because packagers deal with curses/slang builds, TLS libraries, compression libraries, character sets, help files, and decades of user expectations.

For distributions, Lynx is a reminder that a small terminal browser can be both ancient and active. The current changelog still records releases in 2024 and 2026, with modern TLS, Unicode, compression, compiler, and platform fixes alongside traditional terminal-browser behavior.

### Timeline

- 1990s: Lynx originates at the University of Kansas and grows with early World Wide Web tooling.
- 1994: Key early developers leave Kansas for Netscape; community maintenance continues.
- 1997: Klaus Weide sets up PRCS on a previous host, according to the development page.
- 1998: Lynx 2.8 is released; Thomas Dickey becomes patch coordinator afterward.
- 1999: Lynx hosting and PRCS archives move to ISC.
- 2015: Lynx moves from ISC hosting to lynx.invisible-island.net.
- 2024: Lynx 2.9.0, 2.9.1, and 2.9.2 are released.
- 2026: Lynx 2.9.3 and 2.9.3a appear in the official changelog.

### Related projects

- DosLynx was a related DOS port effort created by Garrett Blythe.
- CERN WWW client-library code is part of Lynx's historical foundation.
- ncurses and slang are important terminal libraries in Lynx builds.

### Sources

- <https://invisible-island.net/datafiles/release/lynx-cur.tar.gz>
- <https://invisible-island.net/lynx/lynx-develop.html>
- <https://invisible-island.net/lynx/lynx.html>
- <https://lynx.invisible-island.net/current/>
- <https://lynx.invisible-island.net/current/CHANGES.html>
- <https://lynx.invisible-island.net/lynx_help/about_lynx.html>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: lynx.cfg, ~/.lynxrc
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - lynx - 2.9.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: lynx from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | classic non-graphical (text-mode) web browser | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- Debian apt - lynx-common - 2.9.2-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: lynx-common from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | shared files for lynx package | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- Nix - lynx: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ly/lynx/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - lynx - 2.9.0rel.0-2build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: lynx from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | classic non-graphical (text-mode) web browser | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- Ubuntu apt - lynx-common - 2.9.0rel.0-2build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: lynx-common from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | shared files for lynx package | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- apk - lynx - 2.9.3-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: lynx from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Cross-platform text-based browser | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- apk - lynx-doc - 2.9.3-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: lynx-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Cross-platform text-based browser (documentation) | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- apk - lynx-lang - 2.9.3-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: lynx-lang from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Languages for package lynx | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- dnf - lynx - 2.9.3-4.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: lynx from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | A text-based Web browser | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- pacman - lynx - 2.9.3-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: lynx from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A text browser for the World Wide Web | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- zypper - lynx - 2.9.3-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: lynx from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | A Text-Based WWW Browser | https://lynx.invisible-island.net/
- MacPorts - lynx: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: www/lynx/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Scoop - main/lynx: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/lynx.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph