macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install newtlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install newt with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, zypper
Library for color text mode, widget based user interfaces. Version 0.52.25 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add newtAlpine Linux edge package indexes · newt · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libnewt-devDebian stable package indexes · libnewt-dev · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install newtFedora Rawhide package metadata · newt · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#newtnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ne/newt/package.nix · source: api.github.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libnewt0_52openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libnewt0_52 · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Library for color text mode, widget based user interfaces
Project links
Commands and aliases
- whiptail
history
Project history and usage
Newt is a Red Hat-origin text-mode widget library built on S-Lang. It provides stacked windows, entry widgets, checkboxes, radio buttons, labels, text fields, scrollbars, and related primitives for terminal user interfaces. The Homebrew package also exposes whiptail, the shell-friendly dialog-box command built on top of newt.
Project history
Newt is old Unix/Linux installer plumbing. The upstream README carries Red Hat copyright from 1996 through 2016 and describes the library as a color text-mode widget toolkit based on S-Lang. The long 0.52.x changelog is mostly maintenance: Python binding updates, whiptail layout fixes, translations, compiler fixes, memory-safety fixes, pkg-config support, macOS build fixes, and distribution patch integration.
Whiptail's man page frames the user-facing command: it lets shell scripts present yes/no, menu, input, message, checklist, radiolist, gauge, password, and other dialog boxes. That makes newt less visible than ncurses or dialog, but very sticky in installers, rescue flows, and scripts that inherited whiptail behavior.
Adoption history
Newt's adoption came through operating-system tooling rather than developer fashion. It is packaged by Linux distributions and BSD ports because installers, scripts, and legacy admin tools need a small text UI stack. Debian and related systems also preserve whiptail compatibility for scripts that expect dialog-like behavior.
Homebrew analytics reported 247 installs in 30 days, 920 in 90 days, and 3,858 in 365 days for the formula when queried on July 1, 2026. For macOS, this is usually dependency or script compatibility usage rather than developers choosing newt for a new greenfield TUI.
How it is used
Package nerds usually encounter newt indirectly: a dependency needs libnewt, or an installer script invokes whiptail. Direct users write C against libnewt, Python against snack bindings where available, or shell scripts against whiptail when they want dialog boxes without depending on a full GUI.
The practical caution is compatibility. whiptail resembles dialog but is not identical, and scripts often rely on exact option support, output file descriptors, menu formatting, and terminal behavior. That is why small changelog entries about automatic width, unicode, --notags, --noitem, gauges, and resizing matter.
Why package nerds care
Newt is infrastructure glue: old, unglamorous, and still packaged because deleting it breaks installers and shell scripts. In av.db it is important mainly because the executable surface is whiptail and the library is likely a transitive dependency.
Timeline
- 1996: Upstream README copyright begins with Red Hat, marking the project's early Linux distribution roots.
- 2007-01-31: whiptail man page version line documented Whiptail 0.52.5.
- 2009: Newt 0.52.11 fixed CVE-2009-2905 according to the changelog.
- 2025: 0.52.25 was the stable version reported by Homebrew on July 1, 2026.
- 2026-07-01: Homebrew formula version observed as 0.52.25, with 3,858 formula installs over the preceding 365-day analytics window.
Related projects
- S-Lang
- whiptail
- dialog
- snack Python bindings
- Red Hat installer tooling
Sources
- https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/newt.json
- https://github.com/mlichvar/newt
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mlichvar/newt/master/CHANGES
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mlichvar/newt/master/README
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mlichvar/newt/master/whiptail.1
- https://www.freshports.org/devel/newt/
security posture
Risk level: green
library-like package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- library-like package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:library-like
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 4 runtime dependencies.
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
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
whiptail | cli | global executable |
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 generated2026-07-08
manager version0.52.25
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://pagure.io/newtnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:newt |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.52.25 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/newt |
| Homepage | https://pagure.io/newt |
| Repository | https://pagure.io/newt |
| Upstream docs | https://pagure.io/newt |
| License | LGPL-2.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://releases.pagure.org/newt/newt-0.52.25.tar.gz |
| Dependencies | gettext, popt, python@3.14, s-lang |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | newt |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 1 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
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%
libnewt-dev 0.52.25-1
Developer's toolkit for newt windowing library
sudo apt install libnewt-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Debian apt95%
libnewt-pic 0.52.25-1
Not Erik's Windowing Toolkit, shared library subset kit
sudo apt install libnewt-pic- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Debian apt95%
libnewt0.52 0.52.25-1
Not Erik's Windowing Toolkit - text mode windowing with slang
sudo apt install libnewt0.52- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 2 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Debian apt95%
newt-tcl 0.52.25-1
NEWT module for Tcl
sudo apt install newt-tcl- Section: interpreters
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 5 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Debian apt95%
python3-newt 0.52.25-1
NEWT module for Python3
sudo apt install python3-newt- Section: python
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Debian apt95%
whiptail 0.52.25-1
Displays user-friendly dialog boxes from shell scripts
sudo apt install whiptail- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Nix95%
newt
nix profile install nixpkgs#newt- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Ubuntu apt95%
libnewt-dev 0.52.24-2ubuntu2
Developer's toolkit for newt windowing library
sudo apt install libnewt-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Ubuntu apt95%
libnewt-pic 0.52.24-2ubuntu2
Not Erik's Windowing Toolkit, shared library subset kit
sudo apt install libnewt-pic- Section: universe/libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Ubuntu apt95%
libnewt0.52 0.52.24-2ubuntu2
Not Erik's Windowing Toolkit - text mode windowing with slang
sudo apt install libnewt0.52- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 2 dependencies
- 1 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Ubuntu apt95%
newt-tcl 0.52.24-2ubuntu2
NEWT module for Tcl
sudo apt install newt-tcl- Section: universe/interpreters
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 5 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Ubuntu apt95%
python3-newt 0.52.24-2ubuntu2
NEWT module for Python3
sudo apt install python3-newt- Section: python
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
Ubuntu apt95%
whiptail 0.52.24-2ubuntu2
Displays user-friendly dialog boxes from shell scripts
sudo apt install whiptail- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: newt
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
apk95%
newt 0.52.25-r1
Redhat's Newt windowing toolkit development files
sudo apk add newt- License: LGPL-2.0-only
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: newt
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
apk95%
newt-dev 0.52.25-r1
Redhat's Newt windowing toolkit development files (development files)
sudo apk add newt-dev- License: LGPL-2.0-only
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: newt
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
apk95%
newt-doc 0.52.25-r1
Redhat's Newt windowing toolkit development files (documentation)
sudo apk add newt-doc- License: LGPL-2.0-only
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: newt
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Newt
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.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment