# Install trader with Homebrew, apt, dnf, zypper Star Traders. Version 7.21 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-17. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:trader ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install trader ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install trader ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: trader from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install trader ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: trader from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install trader ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: trader from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:trader - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 7.21 - **Source summary:** Star Traders - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-05-17T12:45:10Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - trader (cli) - trader (alias) ## Dependencies - gettext - ncurses ## 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: 7.21 - Package-manager updated: 2026-05-17 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.zap.org.au/projects/trader/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Star Traders is a long-lived text-based interstellar trading game maintained by John Zaitseff and packaged as the Homebrew formula trader. Its official history traces the lineage from the 1977 Star Lanes listing through CP/M, MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and a 2011 Unix rewrite. ### Project history The official project page says the original game was Steven Faber's Star Lanes, published in Interface Age in June 1977. S. J. Singer republished it as Star Traders in 1984, and John Zaitseff modified that version for MBASIC on CP/M-80, releasing it on March 7, 1988. Zaitseff then rewrote Star Traders in 1990 for the Australian MicroBee running CP/M-80 on a Z80, using Turbo Pascal. Further ports followed: CP/M-86 in 1992, MS-DOS in 1993, VGA/EGA/CGA DOS in 1994, and a Windows 3.1 graphical rewrite in 1995. After almost sixteen years without a major release, the game was rewritten again in C for Unix-like operating systems. Version 7.0 was released on July 25, 2011, making the game available to modern Unix, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and Cygwin users. ### Adoption history The official page documents a modern Unix source release, an AppImage, precompiled packages for Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Mageia, macOS, and Cygwin, plus an APT repository for Debian and Ubuntu. The input facts also show package-manager coverage in Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, and openSUSE. The current page lists Star Traders 7.21 and copyright years 1990-2026, showing that the project remains maintained as a nostalgia-friendly terminal game rather than a one-off historical archive. ### How it is used Star Traders is used as an interactive terminal game: players create companies, buy and sell shares, borrow and repay money, and try to become the wealthiest player. For package users, the executable is simply trader. ### Why package nerds care The package is significant mostly as preservation-friendly software: a retro BASIC and Pascal game lineage kept buildable as a modern C command-line program. It is the kind of small, self-contained Unix game that package managers keep alive beyond its original platforms. ### Timeline - 1977: Star Lanes is published in Interface Age. - 1984: S. J. Singer republishes the game as Star Traders. - 1988: John Zaitseff releases an MBASIC CP/M-80 version. - 1991: Version 4.1 is released for the MicroBee CP/M-80 rewrite. - 1993: Version 4.4 is released for CP/M-86. - 1994: Version 5.4 is released for IBM-compatible DOS systems. - 1995: Version 6.0 is released for Windows 3.1. - 2011: Version 7.0 is released as a C rewrite for Unix-like operating systems. - 2026: The official page lists Star Traders 7.21. ### Related projects - The project preserves historical versions for MBASIC, CP/M-80, CP/M-86, MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and Commodore 64. - The modern Unix distribution participates in the GNU Translation Project under the trader domain. ### Sources - ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for trader. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** trader - **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 - trader - 7.18-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: trader from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple game of interstellar trading | https://www.zap.org.au/projects/trader/ - Ubuntu apt - trader - 7.18-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: trader from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple game of interstellar trading | https://www.zap.org.au/projects/trader/ - dnf - trader - 7.21-1.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: trader from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Star Traders, a simple game of interstellar trading | https://www.zap.org.au/projects/trader/ - zypper - trader - 7.21-2.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: trader from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Star Traders, a simple game of interstellar trading | https://www.zap.org.au/projects/trader/ - zypper - trader-lang - 7.21-2.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: trader-lang from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Translations for package trader | https://www.zap.org.au/projects/trader/ ## 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. - [Scientific computing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/scientific-computing-tools/) - Matched scientific computing metadata. - [Game and emulation packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/game-emulation-tools/) - Matched game or emulation metadata. - [gettext](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gettext/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ncurses](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ncurses/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [dopewars](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dopewars/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, game, games, simulation. - [pioneer](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pioneer/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, game, games, simulation. - [robotfindskitten](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/robotfindskitten/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, game, games, simulation. - [simutrans](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/simutrans/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, game, games, simulation. - [asciiquarium](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/asciiquarium/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, games, terminal. - [fortune](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fortune/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, games, terminal. - [librcsc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/librcsc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, games, simulation. - [moon-buggy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/moon-buggy/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, game, games, terminal. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/trader.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/trader.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