Install oils-for-unix with Homebrew, apk, Nix, pacman, zypper, dnf

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• oils-for-unix
• osh
• ysh

Project history

Andy Chu began Oils in 2016 as an independent project to restore and re-imagine the Unix shell. The GitHub repository was created on 2016-11-15, and Chu's resume describes the work as an independent, non-profit language-engineering project funded by NLnet from 2022 to 2026.

The project deliberately took a compatibility-first path. Chu's 2021 explanation separates POSIX shell, bash, OSH, and Oil: OSH is the implementation intended to run existing shell scripts, while Oil was the incompatible new language intended to fix decades of accumulated shell language problems. The same essay says OSH had run existing scripts since January 2018 and had matured through regular releases.

In 2023 the project renamed itself from Oil/Oil Shell to Oils for Unix, with OSH and YSH as the named subprojects. The rename clarified the difference between the compatible shell and the new shell language, provided a globally unique package and project identity, and matched the busybox-like release layout with `oils-for-unix` plus `osh` and `ysh` symlinks.

Adoption history

Oils has a larger footprint than the other shell packages in this batch: the GitHub API reported 3,357 stars and 193 forks for `oils-for-unix/oils`, and Homebrew's 2026-07-01 formula API reported 331 installs over 365 days. The formula also records the old Homebrew name `oil`, showing the packaging transition caused by the 2023 rename.

NLnet's project page frames Oils as an upgrade path from traditional shells like bash to a more structured language and runtime, with OSH running thousands of lines of unmodified POSIX and bash scripts and YSH offering a language influenced by Python, Ruby, JavaScript, JSON, and YAML. That external funding and packaging across Homebrew, apk, Nix, Arch, and openSUSE-style systems give Oils more than hobby-project status, even though it remains specialized.

How it is used

Developers use OSH to test or run existing shell scripts under a more explicit implementation, and use YSH for new scripts where shell-like command composition is useful but bash syntax is too irregular. The README shows `bin/osh` for interactive use or for running an existing script, and `bin/ysh` for the newer language.

The implementation model matters: the source is written in Python for easier development, then translated to C++ with custom tools so released executables are fast, small, and do not depend on Python. The project asks users to consume release tarballs from `oils.pub` rather than cloning the development repository.

Why package nerds care

Oils is significant because it treats shell as both legacy infrastructure and language-design territory. Package maintainers see the practical side in the formula: one source tarball installs `oils-for-unix`, `osh`, and `ysh`, depends on readline, and conflicts with packages that also install an `osh` binary.

For shell/package historians, Oils sits at the intersection of POSIX shell compatibility, bash's network effect, language migration strategy, and distribution naming. Its rename from `oil` to `oils-for-unix` is unusually well documented and visible directly in package-manager metadata.

Timeline

• 2016: Andy Chu began the Oils/Oil Shell work.
• 2016-11-15: the GitHub repository was created.
• 2018-01: OSH was documented by the project as running existing shell scripts.
• 2022-04 to 2023-02: NLnet's NGI Assure grant period supported the Oil Shell project.
• 2023-03-31: the project published the rename rationale for Oils, OSH, and YSH.
• 2026-07-01: Homebrew's formula API reported stable version 0.37.0 and executables `oils-for-unix`, `osh`, and `ysh`.

Related projects

• Oils is directly related to POSIX shell, GNU bash, zsh, fish, ksh-family shells, and other attempts to make shell programming safer or more regular. Its internal split between OSH and YSH is the central related-project relationship: OSH preserves compatibility, while YSH is the migration target.

Sources

• https://andychu.net/resume/
• https://api.github.com/repos/oils-for-unix/oils
• https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/oils-for-unix.json
• https://github.com/oils-for-unix/oils
• https://nlnet.nl/project/OilShell/
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oils-for-unix/oils/master/README.md
• https://www.oilshell.org/blog/2021/01/why-a-new-shell.html
• https://www.oilshell.org/blog/2023/03/rename.html