# Install nedit with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper Fast, compact Motif/X11 plain text editor. Version 5.8 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-01. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:nedit ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install nedit ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install nedit ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: editors/nedit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add nedit ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: nedit from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install nedit ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: nedit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install nedit ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: nedit 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#nedit ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ne/nedit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install nedit ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: nedit from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:nedit - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 5.8 - **Source summary:** Fast, compact Motif/X11 plain text editor - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-05-01T04:23:41Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - ncl (cli) - nedit (cli) - ncl (alias) - nedit (alias) ## Dependencies - libice - libsm - libx11 - libxext - libxp - libxpm - libxt - openmotif ## 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: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 5.8 - Package-manager updated: 2026-05-01 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage NEdit is a Motif/X11 graphical text editor with a long Unix workstation lineage. Its package identity is classic and conservative: a fast GUI editor for programmers and plain-text users, with syntax highlighting, a macro language, and keyboard/mouse behavior familiar to people coming from Macintosh or Windows editors. ### Project history The NEdit codebase predates its SourceForge era. The project is widely documented as originating at Fermilab, with Mark Edel among the original authors, and the maintained source tree's README lists many long-time contributors. The SourceForge project was registered on 2000-09-07, and the README says NEdit became freely distributable under the GPL as of version 5.1 with a Motif/Open Motif linking exception. NEdit's later history is mostly maintenance and preservation. SourceForge news for 2014-12-06 announced the long-delayed 5.6 release after Debian had effectively been shipping CVS-derived code for some time. The RaumZeit GitHub mirror identifies version 5.7 as January 2017, while Homebrew packaged version 5.8 when checked on 2026-07-01. ### Adoption history NEdit was adopted by Unix workstation users who wanted a GUI editor without moving into Emacs, vi, or a heavyweight IDE. SourceForge user reviews explicitly describe long-term use dating back to Solaris and 1990s Linux workflows, and Debian's de-facto packaging role mattered enough that upstream treated Debian's CVS-derived package as the practical 5.6 baseline. Homebrew's formula page listed the package with X11 and OpenMotif dependencies and showed 337 installs over 365 days, 140 over 90 days, and 35 over 30 days when checked on 2026-07-01. That small but persistent usage fits a legacy GUI tool kept alive by muscle memory, remote X11 habits, and users who prefer its rectangular selection, macro, and syntax-highlighting behavior. ### How it is used Package users install it when they have X11 support available and want a mature GUI editor launched as `nedit`, plus the client helper historically packaged as `nc` or `ncl` depending on distribution. It is used for programming, config editing, data-file cleanup, and old-school X11 desktop workflows where a fast Motif editor is preferable to a terminal editor or full IDE. The practical caveat is that NEdit remains tied to Motif/X11 assumptions. That makes it valuable to package nerds as preserved workstation software, but also explains why modern forks such as XNEdit focused on Unicode and rendering improvements. ### Why package nerds care NEdit is significant as living Unix archaeology: it is a packaged survivor of the Motif workstation era, still installable through modern package managers. Its package metadata also illustrates how long-lived desktop tools depend on distro maintainers, compatibility libraries, and small upstream maintenance bursts rather than continuous feature development. ### Timeline - 1990s: NEdit established itself as a Motif/X11 GUI editor for Unix workstations. - 2000-09-07: SourceForge project registered. - 2014-12-06: SourceForge announced version 5.6 after Debian had already carried similar CVS-derived code. - 2017-01: GitHub mirror README identifies NEdit version 5.7. - 2026-07-01: Homebrew formula stable version observed as 5.8. ### Related projects - OpenMotif - LessTif - XNEdit - Debian nedit package ### Sources - - - - ## 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: $NEDIT_HOME/.nedit, ~/.nedit, ~/.Xresources, ~/.Xdefaults ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** nedit - **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 - nedit - 1:5.7-5+b1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: nedit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | powerful, customizable, Motif based text editor | http://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - Nix - nedit: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ne/nedit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - nedit - 1:5.7-5build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: nedit from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | powerful, customizable, Motif based text editor | http://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - apk - nedit - 5.7-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: nedit from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The Nirvana Editor, a multi-purpose X11 editor that's easy to use | https://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - apk - nedit-doc - 5.7-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: nedit-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | The Nirvana Editor, a multi-purpose X11 editor that's easy to use (documentation) | https://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - dnf - nedit - 5.7-22.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: nedit from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | A GUI text editor for systems with X | http://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - zypper - nedit - 5.7-4.4: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: nedit from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | A GUI text editor | http://sourceforge.net/projects/nedit/ - MacPorts - nedit: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: editors/nedit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Debian apt - libncarg-bin - 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10+b2: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: libncarg-bin from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | NCAR command-language library - development tools | https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/ - Debian apt - libncarg-data - 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: libncarg-data from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | NCAR command-language library - Data | https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/ - Debian apt - libncarg-dev - 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10+b2: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: libncarg-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Development files for the NCAR command language library | https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/ - Debian apt - libncarg0t64 - 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10+b2: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: libncarg0t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | NCAR command-language library | https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/ - Debian apt - ncl-ncarg - 6.6.2.dfsg.1-10+b2: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: ncl-ncarg from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | NCAR Command Language and NCAR graphics | https://www.ncl.ucar.edu/ - dnf - ncl - 6.6.2-63.fc45: installed executable or alias match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: ncl from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | NCAR Command Language and NCAR Graphics | http://www.ncl.ucar.edu - dnf - ncl-common - 6.6.2-63.fc45: installed executable or alias match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: ncl-common from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Common files for NCL and NCAR Graphics | http://www.ncl.ucar.edu - dnf - ncl-devel - 6.6.2-63.fc45: installed executable or alias match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: ncl-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development files for NCL and NCAR Graphics | http://www.ncl.ucar.edu ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Productivity CLI packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/productivity-cli-packages/) - Matched curated productivity category metadata from av.db. - [libxpm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libxpm/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [openmotif](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openmotif/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gedit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gedit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, syntax-highlighting, text-editor, text-editors. - [ad](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ad/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [aoeui](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aoeui/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [jove](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jove/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [le](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/le/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [mg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mg/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [ne](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ne/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [neatvi](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/neatvi/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, text-editors. - [snownews](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/snownews/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: c, cli, productivity, text. - [esniper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/esniper/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, productivity. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/nedit.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/nedit.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - 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