Run errors on Alpine Linux installed on Apple Macbook M1

[bmentink]

Additional Info

• I am using Windows Subsystem for Linux

Output of brew config

Defaulting to user installation because default installation directory (/usr/lib/ruby/gems/3.4.0) is not writable.
WARNING:  You don't have /home/bmentink/.local/share/gem/ruby/3.4.0/bin in your PATH,
          gem executables (bundle, bundler) will not run.
Successfully installed bundler-2.6.9
1 gem installed
HOMEBREW_VERSION: 5.0.10
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: d5856148ee2fdd810dd864f27297d53509860050
Last commit: 3 days ago
Branch: stable
Core tap JSON: 15 Jan 07:19 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DISPLAY: :0
HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY: 16
HOMEBREW_FORBID_PACKAGES_FROM_PATHS: set
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 8
Homebrew Ruby: 3.4.8 => /usr/bin/ruby
CPU: octa-core 64-bit arm
Clang: N/A
Git: 2.52.0 => /usr/bin/git
Curl: 8.18.0 => /usr/bin/curl
Kernel: Linux 6.18.4-1-asahi aarch64 Linux
OS: Alpine Linux edge
Host glibc: N/A
Host libstdc++: N/A
/usr/bin/gcc: N/A
/usr/bin/ruby: 3.4.8
glibc: 2.35_2
gcc@12: N/A
gcc: 15.2.0
xorg: N/A

Output of brew doctor

Defaulting to user installation because default installation directory (/usr/lib/ruby/gems/3.4.0) is not writable.
WARNING:  You don't have /home/bmentink/.local/share/gem/ruby/3.4.0/bin in your PATH,
          gem executables (bundle, bundler) will not run.
Successfully installed bundler-2.6.9
1 gem installed
Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers
with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is
working fine: please don't worry or file an issue; just ignore this. Thanks!

Warning: No developer tools installed.
Install Clang or run `brew install gcc`.

Warning: Your system glibc  is too old.
We only support glibc 2.13 or later.

We recommend updating to a newer version via your distribution's
package manager, upgrading your distribution to the latest version,
or changing distributions.

This is a Unsupported configuration:
  https://docs.brew.sh/Support-Tiers#unsupported
Do not report any issues to Homebrew/* repositories!
Read the above document before opening any issues or PRs.


Warning: Your system glibc  is too old.
We will need to automatically install a newer version.

We recommend updating to a newer version via your distribution's
package manager, upgrading your distribution to the latest version,
or changing distributions.

This is a Tier 2 configuration:
  https://docs.brew.sh/Support-Tiers#tier-2
You can report Tier 2 unrelated issues to Homebrew/* repositories!
Read the above document before opening any issues or PRs.

Description of issue

As can be seen above, I have issues with the install. It partly works. For example, I can install "hello" with brew install hello however brew search xxx reveals hardly any packages available. I have added the above path to my .bashrc, but same error.

Appreciate some advice

[Bo98]

brew search does have some known issues on Linux that will be fixed in Homebrew 5.0.11.

We support glibc but don't currently support musl libc. With that said, it might work as is despite the warnings since it will attempt to install Homebrew's version of glibc.

You might find things work a bit better however after installing gcompat via apk. I haven't however tested this myself.

[bmentink]

Thanks for the reply. I have already gcompat installed, but thanks. I will hang out for the new 5.0.11. Presume that will be installed with brew update ? brew info ... will do in the meantime to see if package exists, that works ..

By the way, I see that mobirise is there, but is only available for MacOS, is there plans to do a Linux (arm64) version? That was one of the reasons I installed homebrew :)

In fact, a lot of packages are marked MacOS only, I guess this will change in time?

[p-linnane]

mobirise is a cask. Casks are precompiled binaries provided by upstream sources that we fetch. There are not many Linux casks at the moment because it's a relatively new feature on that platform. If mobirise doesn't have a Linux version, which it doesn't look like from their website, there's no way we can offer one.

[krishkhinchi]

Hi @bmentink,

This is expected behavior on Alpine Linux.

What’s happening

• Alpine uses musl, not glibc. Homebrew on Linux officially targets glibc-based distros.
• As a result, Homebrew falls into an unsupported / partial (Tier-2) state: installs may work, but search and package availability will be very limited or inconsistent.

Why brew install hello works but brew search is broken

• Only a small subset of prebuilt bottles or source builds are usable.
• Most formulas are filtered out due to libc/toolchain incompatibility.

Recommended solutions

1. Use a glibc-based distro inside WSL (Ubuntu 22.04+ is strongly recommended).
2. Or run Homebrew inside a Docker container based on Ubuntu/Debian.
3. If you want to stay on Alpine, rely on apk instead of Homebrew.

Bottom line
Homebrew is not reliable on Alpine. Switching to Ubuntu WSL will immediately fix search, installs, and CI consistency.

---

If this answer solves your doubts, please mark it as solved.
If not, tell me what’s still unclear and I’ll help further.

[SMillerDev]

Please stop giving obvious AI answers to questions people have. Especially stop giving ones that suggest more work for homebrew maintainers without a benefit