stow ☆

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Description:
Organize software neatly under a single directory tree (e.g. /usr/local)

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: System utilities

Tags: symlinks file-management gnu system-utility

Install: brew install stow

About:
GNU Stow is a symbolic link manager designed to organize packages under a single directory tree, such as /usr/local. It creates symlinks from files in a package directory to their expected locations in the target directory. This allows for clean installation, easy removal, and management of software compiled from source.

Key Features:

Manages symlinks to merge package directories
Simplifies installation and removal of software
Prevents file conflicts between packages
Integrates with standard Unix filesystem hierarchies

Use Cases:

Managing multiple versions of software libraries
Keeping /usr/local or /opt organized
Managing dotfiles in home directories

Alternatives:

Nix – Provides functional package management and dependency resolution, whereas Stow focuses purely on symlink management.
Homebrew – An automated package manager for macOS/Linux that handles downloads and dependencies, while Stow is used for manual package organization.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 15, 2025 12:20pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	d971f78a