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brew

Install openvi with Homebrew, apk, Nix

Portable OpenBSD vi for UNIX systems. Version 7.9.33 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#openvi.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install openvi

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add openvi

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · openvi · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#openvi

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/op/openvi/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Portable OpenBSD vi for UNIX systems

Commands and aliases

  • oex
  • ovi
  • oview

history

Project history and usage

OpenVi is a portable packaging of the OpenBSD vi/ex editor for Unix-like systems outside OpenBSD. Its significance is preservation and portability rather than a new editor model: it gives package users a small BSD-licensed vi derived from OpenBSD base-system code.

Project history

The OpenVi README describes the project as a fork of the vi/ex editor included with OpenBSD. That editor descends from nvi 1.79, the Berkeley ex/vi reimplementation associated with Keith Bostic, Sven Verdoolaege, and other CSRG contributors, and nvi itself traces back through Steve Kirkendall's Elvis editor.

OpenVi follows the common OpenBSD-portable pattern: take audited base-system code, add portability glue, and make it build on other Unix systems. Its README emphasizes readable code, secure C library idioms such as strlcpy, snprintf, mkstemp, and pledge where available, and a permissive BSD/ISC licensing mix.

Adoption history

OpenVi's adoption footprint is niche. It is packaged by Homebrew, Alpine, and Nix for users who want OpenBSD's vi behavior without installing OpenBSD, but it does not appear to be a general editor ecosystem on the scale of Vim, Neovim, or nvi2.

Its most natural audience is package minimalists, BSD users working on non-BSD hosts, and developers who want a small vi with OpenBSD ancestry rather than plugin systems, scripting runtimes, or GUI layers.

How it is used

The package installs ovi, oex, and oview so users can edit files, run ex commands, and inspect files with a vi-family tool. It is useful in lightweight shell environments, recovery setups, containers, and systems where a traditional vi is wanted with few moving parts.

Why package nerds care

OpenVi is interesting because it packages a lineage rather than a feature race: Berkeley vi to nvi to OpenBSD vi to a portable downstream. For package nerds, that makes it a compact case study in base-system code being exported into package-manager space.

Timeline

  • 1996: nvi 1.79 becomes the ancestor named by the OpenVi README for OpenBSD vi.
  • 2020s: OpenVi is distributed as a portable OpenBSD vi for Unix-like systems and appears in package managers including Homebrew, Alpine, and Nix.
  • 2026: Homebrew packages OpenVi 7.7.32 with ovi, oex, and oview.

Related projects

  • OpenVi is related to OpenBSD vi, nvi, nvi2, Elvis, Vim, Neovim, and other small Unix editor ports that preserve traditional ex/vi behavior.

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

  • narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

  • metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 1 build 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

CommandKindExposureNote
oexcliglobal executable
ovicliglobal executable
oviewcliglobal 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 generated2026-07-25
manager version7.9.33
manager updated2026-06-25
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detected7.9.33

https://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi

  • okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:openvi
Version7.9.33
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/openvi
Homepagehttps://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi
Repositoryhttps://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi
Upstream docshttps://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi#readme
LicenseBSD-3-Clause
Source archivehttps://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi/archive/refs/tags/7.9.33.tar.gz
Last updated2026-06-25T04:20:44Z
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesncurses
Build dependenciespkgconf
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Nameopenvi
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

openvi

nix profile install nixpkgs#openvi
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openvi
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/op/openvi/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
apk95%

openvi 7.7.32-r0

OpenVi is a fork of the vi / ex editor included with OpenBSD

https://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi

sudo apk add openvi
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openvi
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openvi
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openvi from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

openvi-doc 7.7.32-r0

OpenVi is a fork of the vi / ex editor included with OpenBSD (documentation)

https://github.com/johnsonjh/OpenVi

sudo apk add openvi-doc
  • License: BSD-3-Clause
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: openvi
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Openvi
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: openvi-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • ncursesRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • pkgconfBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • adShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor, vi.
  • ampShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor.
  • emacsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor.
  • enter-texShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor.
  • geditShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor.
  • juppShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, text-editor.

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.

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