# Install mdk with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix GNU MIX development kit. Version 1.3.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-07. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:mdk ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install mdk ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install mdk ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: lang/mdk/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install mdk ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: mdk from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install mdk ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: mdk from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#mdk ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/md/mdk/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:mdk - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.3.1 - **Source summary:** GNU MIX development kit - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-07T13:40:42-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-09T07:20:21+00:00 ## Executables - gmixvm (cli) - mixasm (cli) - mixguile (cli) - mixvm (cli) - gmixvm (alias) - mixasm (alias) - mixguile (alias) - mixvm (alias) ## Dependencies - adwaita-icon-theme - at-spi2-core - bdw-gc - cairo - flex - gdk-pixbuf - gettext - glib - gtk+3 - guile - harfbuzz - pango - readline ## Build dependencies - gettext - intltool - pkgconf ## Uses from macOS - ncurses ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-09 - Package-manager version: 1.3.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-07 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.gnu.org/software/mdk/mdk.html - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage GNU MDK, the GNU MIX Development Kit, is a suite of tools for developing programs for Donald Knuth's MIX mythical computer and its MIXAL assembly language. It includes command-line and graphical simulators, an assembler, Guile integration, and Emacs support. ### Project history The GNU MDK manual identifies the documented package as version 1.3.0 from October 2020 and states that the manual covers utilities for Donald Knuth's MIX computer and MIXAL. The manual copyright years begin in 2000, showing the package's long-running place in the GNU software collection. The GNU homepage presents MDK as a GNU project with news, documentation, installation, screenshots, downloads, and Savannah hosting. Homebrew tracked stable version 1.3.1 in 2026, while the input facts list packages across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora/DNF, MacPorts, and Nix. ### Adoption history MDK's audience is specialized: readers of The Art of Computer Programming, emulator enthusiasts, GNU users, and people studying assembly-language architecture through Knuth's MIX model. Its adoption is therefore broader in distribution coverage than in everyday command-line visibility. Its continued presence in general-purpose package managers matters because MIX and MIXAL are educational and historical tools. Packaging MDK keeps examples from Knuth's literature runnable on modern Unix-like systems without each user building the GNU source tree manually. ### How it is used The package provides `mixasm` for assembling MIXAL, `mixvm` for simulating the MIX computer, `gmixvm` as a GTK virtual machine, and `mixguile` for Scheme/Guile interaction. The manual includes installation, a MIX and MIXAL tutorial, getting started material, command reference, and Emacs support. There is no credential flow. Configuration in the manual is runtime-oriented simulator configuration and build/install flags, not a documented per-user config file location suitable for this schema. ### Why package nerds care GNU MDK is package-nerd significant because it is a compact bridge between classic computer-science literature and modern package managers. It lets a formula, Debian package, or Nix derivation install an executable environment for MIXAL programs. It also illustrates why old educational tools remain packaged: not because they are high-volume infrastructure, but because they preserve reproducible access to an important computing model. ### Timeline - 2000: GNU MDK manual copyright period begins. - 2020: Manual documents GNU MDK version 1.3.0. - 2026: Homebrew formula tracks stable version 1.3.1. ### Related projects - MDK is directly related to Donald Knuth's MIX and MIXAL from The Art of Computer Programming. - Within GNU packaging, it is hosted through GNU/Savannah and depends on familiar GNU-adjacent components such as Guile, readline, GTK, flex, and the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector in Homebrew. ### Sources - - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for mdk. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** mdk - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - mdk - 1.3.0+dfsg-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: mdk from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | MIX Development Kit | https://www.gnu.org/software/mdk/mdk.html - Nix - mdk: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/md/mdk/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - mdk - 1.3.0+dfsg-3build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: mdk from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | MIX Development Kit | https://www.gnu.org/software/mdk/mdk.html - dnf - mdk - 1.3.1-6.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: mdk from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | GNU MIX Development Kit | https://www.gnu.org/software/mdk/ - dnf - mdk-doc - 1.3.1-6.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: mdk-doc from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | GNU MIX Development Kit Documentation and Samples | https://www.gnu.org/software/mdk/ - MacPorts - mdk: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: lang/mdk/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Web development packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/web-dev-tools/) - Matched web development metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched curated package taxonomy and local package facts. - [cairo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cairo/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [flex](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/flex/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gdk-pixbuf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gdk-pixbuf/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gettext](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gettext/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [glib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/glib/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [intltool](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/intltool/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gnu-apl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gnu-apl/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: at-spi2-core, cairo, core, gdk, gdk-pixbuf. - [xboard](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xboard/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: at-spi2-core, cairo, core, gdk, gdk-pixbuf. - [zile](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/zile/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: bdw, bdw-gc, development, gettext, glib. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/mdk.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/mdk.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph