is it safe to install RSYNC via homebrew/terminal?

[kofman13]

is there any danger installing the newer version of RSYNC than whats installed natively with macos? is it safe and does not have some weird permissions to do something malicious or have telemetry or compromise safety and privacy?

 

[adrianlondon]

No problem upgrading it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/155nztd/rsync_update

 

[Brian33]

Yeah, Apple wasn't keeping its version of rsync up to date at all (it was 2.6.9 for years?), so I have used Homebrew and its rsync 3.x for several years. I haven't had a problem. I don't think Homebrew is compromising my privacy. But of course, it's hard to know. Plus there's the risk of malware being embedded in whatever formula you install... In all, I decided it was worth it, anyway.

Now (with Sequioa, I think), Apple has suddenly changed to supplying openrsync, and it seems that some options have changed from what the old 2.6.9 version used (e.g., I'm pretty sure -E used to be for extended attributes, but now is executability).

Glad my scripts were written for the rsync 3.x with homebrew -- it has stayed consistant. (Note that homebrew rsync uses -X for extended attributes.)