# Frequently Asked Questions

## What is a Cask?

A `Cask` is like a `Formula` in Homebrew except it describes how to download
and install a binary application.

Casks currently have three fields:

 * __url__: (required) points to binary distribution of the application
 * __version__: (required) describes the version of the application available at the URL
 * __homepage__: the same as Homebrew's - it doesn't do anything yet, but will be wired in

## What's the status of this project?  Where's it headed?

`brew-cask` currently understands how to install `dmg` and `zip` files that
contain a `.app` file.  I'd like to extend it to be able to handle `pkg` files
as well as the numerous other permutations of compression and distribution in
the wild (`.app` inside `dmg` inside `zip`; folder inside `dmg`; etc.).

The idea is for each Cask to encapsulate and automate the story of how a given
application should be installed.  Join us in building up a community-maintained
collection of Casks that is striving to become the standard way that hackers
install Mac apps.

## Can I contribute?

__Yes, yes, yes!__ Please fork/pull request to update Casks, to add features,
to clean up documentation—anything at all that you can do to help out is very
welcome.

It's also [__pretty darn easy__ to create Casks (see CONTRIBUTING.md)][c1], so
please build more of them for the software you use. And if `brew-cask` doesn't
support the packaging format of your software, please [open an issue][c2]
and we can get it working together.

The whole idea is to build a _community-maintained_ list of easily installable
packages, so the community part is important! Every little bit counts.

[c1]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
[c2]: https://github.com/phinze/homebrew-cask/issues

## Why use Homebrew's Cellar? Why not just manage apps directly in Applications?

The short answer to this would be: for the same reason that Homebrew does not
install applications directly into /usr/local.

We don't know up-front precisely what files are going to be in the
dmg/zip/tgz/etc, so it's really helpful to have a place to dump all of them
safely then iterate through and act on the files we care about. For a .app file
this may be symlinking it into ~/Applications or /Applications, for a .pkg file
this might be running the installer. For a screensaver it may be symlinking it
into the appropriate directory for it to show up in System Preferences.

The reason we implement this project on top of Homebrew was based on a belief
that their methodology for managing applications has a lot of merit. We'd
prefer to try and work things so that we can keep ourselves Homebrewy both in
implementation and idioms. Trying to manage all of ~/Applications would move
the project more towards a standalone system, which would mean reimplementing a
lot of the Homebrew stuff we lean on now.