I just bought a MBA and have heard a lot about Homebrew. There seems to be a ton of packages that it installs. Is this necessary for a non-developer? Would it open me up to a lot more vulnerabilities, or is it like aptitude and only installs those packages when I tell it to? Thank you.
I'd say homebrew is a little bit more secure than others, because they are pretty fussy about not installing to system-wide libraries.<p>That said, I can't think of a reason for a non-developer to use the packages found on homebrew.
I've been using a MBP (currently on v10.9.4) for over five years as a developer and I've never had the need to install or use Homebrew. All the programs that I use are available as .dmg or .pkg for installation. Of course YMMV.<p>I suggest that you wait time a "must have" program is only available as Homebrew, then go with it. As a general rule, I think it is unwise to install programs that you "think you might" need. As Sanswork hints, Apple App Store is where you'll get your OS updates from.
It is exactly like aptitude. The choice of packages could open you up to more vulnerabilities but homebrew itself shouldn't.<p>It's one of the first things I install whenever I reinstall my OS. That said if you're not doing dev I'm not sure what packages on it you are looking for?