# Install unum with Homebrew

Interconvert numbers, Unicode, and HTML/XHTML entities. Version 3.6-15.1.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:unum
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install unum
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:unum
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.6-15.1.0
- **Source summary:** Interconvert numbers, Unicode, and HTML/XHTML entities
- **Homepage:** <https://www.fourmilab.ch/webtools/unum/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:06:32-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- unum (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.6-15.1.0
## Project history and usage

unum is a small Fourmilab command-line utility for interconverting decimal, octal, hexadecimal, binary, Unicode character data, and HTML/XHTML named or numeric character entities. Its history is tied less to a large ecosystem than to the long Unix tradition of keeping compact text and lookup tools on the command line.

### Project history

John Walker published the Fourmilab unum page in February 2006. The page presents unum as a standalone portable Perl program that removes the need to manually consult Unicode tables, HTML entity references, and programmer calculators when preparing web documents or source text.

The utility remained maintained as Unicode and HTML entity data changed. The Fourmilab page lists multiple updates from 2017 through 2023 and identifies version 3.6-15.1.0 as released on October 21, 2023, with character tables based on Unicode 15.1.0.

### Adoption history

unum appears in Homebrew as a niche developer utility rather than a broad platform tool. Its adoption story is mostly the durable packaging of a single-file Perl reference program for users who want Unicode and entity lookups available from a shell.

### How it is used

The tool is used to answer questions such as converting code points between bases, finding the Unicode name for a character, looking up HTML entities, decoding UTF-8 byte sequences, and listing Unicode blocks. Fourmilab documents installation as placing the single unum.pl file somewhere on PATH, with Perl and optionally bunzip2 as the main runtime requirements.

### Why package nerds care

For package-nerd workflows, unum is the kind of low-dependency utility that survives because it is scriptable, portable, and focused. It is useful when packaging documentation, terminals, web pages, or source files expose encoding details that are easier to inspect from a CLI than from a browser or GUI character map.

### Timeline

- 2006: Fourmilab page published for unum.
- 2017-2023: Fourmilab page records periodic updates.
- 2023: Version 3.6-15.1.0 released with Unicode 15.1.0 tables.

### Related projects

- Fourmilab documents unum alongside Unicode, HTML/XHTML character references, Perl, and W3C HTML entity data rather than as part of a larger suite.

### Sources

- <https://www.fourmilab.ch/webtools/unum/>
- source_facts.package-manager.brew


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph