# Install openmotif with Homebrew, dnf, MacPorts, pacman, zypper, apk, apt

LGPL release of the Motif toolkit. Version 2.3.8 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:openmotif
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install openmotif
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install openmotif
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: x11/openmotif/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install motif
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: motif from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S openmotif
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: openmotif from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install motif
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: motif from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add mwm
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: mwm from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install mwm
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: mwm from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:openmotif
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Package manager page:** <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/openmotif>
- **Version:** 2.3.8
- **Source summary:** LGPL release of the Motif toolkit
- **Homepage:** <https://motif.ics.com/motif>
- **Repository:** <https://sourceforge.net/p/motif/code/ci/master/tree>
- **Upstream docs:** <https://sourceforge.net/projects/motif/files>
- **License:** LGPL-2.1-or-later
- **Source archive:** <https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/motif/Motif%202.3.8%20Source%20Code/motif-2.3.8.tar.gz>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:32:41-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00

## Executables

- mwm (cli)
- uil (cli)
- xmbind (cli)
- mwm (alias)
- uil (alias)
- xmbind (alias)

## Dependencies

- fontconfig
- freetype
- jpeg-turbo
- libice
- libpng
- libsm
- libx11
- libxext
- libxft
- libxmu
- libxp
- libxt
- xbitmaps

## Build dependencies

- pkgconf

## 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: 2.3.8
- Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19
- Local data: ok
- Upstream repository: https://motif.ics.com/motif
- info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.
## Project history and usage

OpenMotif packages the Motif GUI toolkit and the Motif Window Manager for X11. Its history is important because Motif was a commercial Unix desktop standard before it became freely redistributable under the LGPL.

### Project history

Motif originated at the Open Software Foundation as a standard GUI for Unix platforms. OSF began with a 1988 Request For Technology, selected pieces from competing interface proposals, and first shipped Motif in 1989.

Motif became closely tied to the Common Desktop Environment and commercial Unix workstations. That made it a de facto professional X11 widget set, but its royalty-bearing proprietary licensing also created demand for a free replacement, most notably LessTif.

Open Motif was released on 2000-05-15 under a license that allowed royalty-free distribution only on open-source platforms; that license was not itself an open-source license. In October 2012, Motif 2.3.4 was released on SourceForge under LGPL-2.1-or-later, turning the original toolkit into free software and making LessTif's original compatibility mission largely historical.

### Adoption history

Motif's adoption came from workstation Unix rather than from modern web-style developer ecosystems. It was the toolkit for CDE, was standardized through the Motif API, and shipped in environments where X11 desktop applications and mwm were the expected interface layer.

Linux and BSD distributions keep OpenMotif available for legacy X11 software and for packages that still build against libXm, libMrm, or libUil. Arch Linux packages openmotif as LGPL-2.1-or-later and marks it as conflicting with lesstif, while Fedora's motif package provides mwm, xmbind, libXm, libMrm, and libUil.

### How it is used

Developers use OpenMotif to build or run X11 applications written for the Motif API. The package supplies the widget libraries, the UIL compiler, xmbind keyboard bindings, and mwm for systems or retro/industrial applications that still expect Motif behavior.

The modern use case is often maintenance: compiling old Unix GUI code, keeping CDE-era applications alive, or running mwm in a minimal X11 session.

### Why package nerds care

OpenMotif is a textbook package-history hinge: a once-proprietary Unix standard, a long-lived free clone in LessTif, then an LGPL upstream release that changed which package distributions should prefer. Its dependency surface also shows classic X11 packaging: libX11, Xt, Xmu, Xft, Xp, bitmap resources, man pages, and Motif-specific shared libraries.

### Timeline

- 1988: OSF issued a Request For Technology for a Unix GUI standard.
- 1989: OSF first shipped Motif.
- 2000-05-15: Open Motif was released under a royalty-free but restricted license.
- 2012-10-23: SourceForge file metadata for Motif 2.3.4 records the LGPL release artifacts.
- 2017-12-05: Motif 2.3.8 was released, according to the Motif article and downstream package versions.

### Related projects

- LessTif was the LGPL-compatible Motif clone created while Motif itself was not free software. CDE is the desktop environment most strongly associated with Motif, and mwm is the Motif Window Manager shipped by the package.

### Sources

- <https://archive.opengroup.org/openmotif/faq.html>
- <https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/openmotif/>
- <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_(software)>
- <https://packages.fedoraproject.org/pkgs/motif/motif/fedora-43.html>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/motif/files/Motif%202.3.4%20Binaries/Red%20Hat%20Enterprise%20Linux%206%20i686/>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Source Database Details

- **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API
- **Tap:** homebrew/core
- **Full Name:** openmotif
- **Version Scheme:** 0
- **Revision:** 4
- **Bottle Stable Root URL:** <https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core>
- **Deprecated:** no
- **Disabled:** no
- **Keg Only:** no
- **URL Keys:** stable

## Other Package-Manager Records

- dnf - motif - 2.3.8-3.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: motif from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Run-time libraries and programs | http://www.motifzone.net/
- pacman - openmotif - 2.3.8-4: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: openmotif from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Open Motif | https://motif.ics.com/
- zypper - motif - 2.3.8-4.4: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: motif from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Motif Runtime Programs | https://motif.ics.com/
- MacPorts - openmotif: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: x11/openmotif/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Debian apt - mwm - 2.3.8-4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: mwm from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Motif Window Manager | https://motif.ics.com/
- Debian apt - uil - 2.3.8-4: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: uil from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Motif - UIL (User Interface Language) compiler | https://motif.ics.com/
- Ubuntu apt - mwm - 2.3.8-3.1build1: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: mwm from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Motif Window Manager | https://motif.ics.com/
- Ubuntu apt - uil - 2.3.8-3.1build1: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: uil from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Motif - UIL (User Interface Language) compiler | https://motif.ics.com/
- apk - mwm - 2.5.2-r0: installed executable or alias match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: mwm from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Motif Window Manager | https://github.com/thentenaar/motif


## Related links

- [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata.
- [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata.
- [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider.
- [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Matched curated package taxonomy and local package facts.
- [fontconfig](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fontconfig/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [freetype](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/freetype/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [jpeg-turbo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jpeg-turbo/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [libpng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libpng/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [ddd](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ddd/) - Popular package that depends on this formula.
- [geomview](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/geomview/) - Popular package that depends on this formula.
- [grace](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/grace/) - Popular package that depends on this formula.
- [nedit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/nedit/) - Popular package that depends on this formula.
- [twm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/twm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, desktop, system, x11.
- [xclip](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xclip/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, unix, x11.
- [bash](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bash/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, unix.
- [bdftopcf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bdftopcf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, x11.
- [bork](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bork/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, unix.
- [cups](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cups/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, unix.
- [daemon](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/daemon/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, unix.
- [daemonize](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/daemonize/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, unix.
- [rxvt-unicode](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rxvt-unicode/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, fontconfig, freetype, libx11, libxext.

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/openmotif.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/openmotif.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- 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