# Install wwwoffle with Homebrew Better browsing for computers with intermittent connections. Version 2.9j via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:wwwoffle ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install wwwoffle ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:wwwoffle - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.9j - **Source summary:** Better browsing for computers with intermittent connections - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - wwwoffle (cli) - wwwoffle-fsck (cli) - wwwoffle-gunzip (cli) - wwwoffle-gzip (cli) - wwwoffle-hash (cli) - wwwoffle-ls (cli) - wwwoffle-mv (cli) - wwwoffle-read (cli) - wwwoffle-rm (cli) - wwwoffle-tools (cli) - wwwoffle-write (cli) - wwwoffled (cli) - wwwoffle (alias) - wwwoffle-fsck (alias) - wwwoffle-gunzip (alias) - wwwoffle-gzip (alias) - wwwoffle-hash (alias) - wwwoffle-ls (alias) - wwwoffle-mv (alias) - wwwoffle-read (alias) - wwwoffle-rm (alias) - wwwoffle-tools (alias) - wwwoffle-write (alias) - wwwoffled (alias) ## 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: 2.9j - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.gedanken.org.uk/software/wwwoffle/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage WWWOFFLE, the World Wide Web Offline Explorer, is a proxy server for intermittent Internet links. It belongs to the dial-up and metered-connectivity era: users browse through a local proxy, keep cached pages, queue missing pages while offline, and fetch them when online. ### Project history Andrew M. Bishop's official site documents WWWOFFLE from beta 0.9 in January 1997 through the long-lived 2.9 series. The program was designed around a local proxy daemon, wwwoffled, with command-line and browser-based controls for switching online, offline, and autodial status. By version 2.9j in 2016, maintenance focused on bug fixes, TLS-related improvements, gzip/chunked-transfer compatibility, certificate changes, and documentation updates. The official release policy notes that announcement and user mailing lists were discontinued at the end of 2012 because releases had become infrequent. ### Adoption history WWWOFFLE was useful when Internet access was slow, unreliable, expensive, or not always on. Its official feature list reads like a history of early web constraints: HTTP, FTP, and finger caching; scheduled and recursive retrieval; monitoring pages for changes; proxy authentication; censoring headers; and offline indexes of pages waiting to be fetched. Although the need for offline web proxies declined as broadband became normal, WWWOFFLE remained packaged because it filled a precise Unix niche: a transparent, scriptable cache for controlled browsing environments, disconnected systems, and users who wanted explicit ownership of web retrieval. ### How it is used A typical setup runs wwwoffled as a local proxy, configures the browser to use it, and then toggles the daemon between online and offline modes. While online, pages can be cached or conditionally refreshed; while offline, unavailable URLs can be queued for the next connection. Administrators can drive the tool from the command line or through its proxy management pages. The same configuration controls access restrictions, cache policy, recursive fetch behavior, proxy chaining, authentication handling, and maintenance of the cache indexes. ### Why package nerds care WWWOFFLE is package-nerd significant because it preserves a whole style of network computing that modern always-online software mostly forgot. It is not just a cache; it is a deliberate offline-first web workflow exposed as a Unix daemon plus small maintenance tools. ### Timeline - 1997-01-11: Beta version 0.9 released. - 1997-01-25: Version 1.0 released. - 2000-11-18: Version 2.6 released. - 2006-04-02: Version 2.9 released. - 2012: Announcement and user mailing lists discontinued at year end. - 2016-03-23: Version 2.9j released. - 2014 onward: Direct Subversion repository access used to reduce the need for intermediate releases. ### Related projects - WWWOFFLE is related to web proxy caches, recursive web fetchers, dial-on-demand networking setups, and Unix proxy daemons used to make browser access predictable under intermittent connectivity. ### Sources - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: /etc/wwwoffle/wwwoffle.conf ## Credential files - Unix: /etc/wwwoffle/wwwoffle.conf ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** wwwoffle - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## 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. - [Web development packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/web-dev-tools/) - Matched web development metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [squid](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/squid/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, ftp, http, networking, proxy. - [privoxy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/privoxy/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, http, networking, proxy. - [proxyfor](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/proxyfor/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, http, networking, proxy. - [whistle](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/whistle/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, http, networking, proxy. - [brook](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/brook/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, proxy. - [cntlm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cntlm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, proxy. - [connect](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/connect/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, proxy. - [ctrld](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ctrld/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, proxy. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/wwwoffle.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/wwwoffle.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - cross-ecosystem install command graph