Installation

Install

Pick your system. Click the download button, and follow the steps under it. To install from a terminal instead, or with Go, see Command line install methods.

Download installer (Intel/AMD)Download installer (ARM)

Open the file you downloaded, wopr_0.6.0_windows_setup.exe: click it in your browser’s downloads, or double-click it in your Downloads folder. If the browser says that the file is not commonly downloaded, choose to keep it.
If Windows says Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway. Windows warns because the installer is not signed yet. That is also why it says Unknown publisher.
Click Next, then Install, then Finish. The installer does not ask for an administrator’s password. It also adds WOPR to your PATH, so that typing wopr in a terminal starts it, unless you untick that box on the first page.
WOPR opens in a terminal window and starts dialing.
To play again later, open the Start menu and click WOPR in the list of apps, or search for it.

If Windows says that Smart App Control blocked the installer, the installer cannot run while Smart App Control is on, because it is not signed yet. Troubleshooting says what you can do.

To update WOPR, run a newer installer the same way: it replaces the old version. To remove it, see Uninstall.

Download app (Apple Silicon)Download app (Intel)

Open the file you downloaded, wopr_0.6.0_macos.dmg. A window shows WOPR and an Applications folder.
Drag WOPR onto Applications. Do this before you open WOPR: it may not start from the Downloads folder or from the disk image. You can then eject the WOPR disk in Finder’s sidebar.
Open WOPR from your Applications folder, from Apps in the Dock, or with Spotlight.
The first time, macOS says that it could not verify that WOPR is free of malware, because Apple has not signed WOPR yet. Click Done, then:
1. Open the Apple menu, then System Settings, then Privacy & Security in the sidebar. You may need to scroll down to it.
2. Scroll down to Security, where it says that WOPR was blocked, and click Open Anyway. The button stays there for about an hour after you tried to open WOPR. If it is gone, open WOPR again.
3. macOS asks once more: click Open Anyway (or Open), and enter your password or use Touch ID.
WOPR opens in a Terminal window and starts dialing. The Dock shows Terminal’s icon. From then on, WOPR opens like any other app.

The app always opens in Terminal. It does not add a wopr command to your terminal: for that, also install WOPR from the command line. To update WOPR, drag the new app to Applications in the same way. macOS may ask you to allow it again. To remove it, see Uninstall.

For Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and their relatives:

Download .deb (Intel/AMD)Download .deb (ARM)

For Fedora, RHEL, CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux and their relatives:

Download .rpm (Intel/AMD)Download .rpm (ARM)

Then open the file you downloaded: click it in your browser’s downloads, or double-click it in your Downloads folder. Your desktop’s software app opens, such as Software on Fedora, and offers to install it. On Ubuntu, App Center opens and warns that the package comes from a third party. Click Install.

To play, open a terminal and type wopr. You can also click WOPR in your app menu, which opens it in a terminal window. Right-click it to start Chess, Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War or Movie Mode at once. The package also installs the manual page, man wopr. To remove it, see Uninstall.

wopr’s key signs both packages. The .rpm carries its signature inside it. The .deb’s signature is a separate file on the release page, named after the package with .asc on the end, such as wopr_0.6.0-1_amd64.deb.asc. It is separate because apt does not check a signature inside a package you download. To check either package before you install it, see Verifying binaries. The Linux (RPM) line in Command line install methods makes dnf check the signature as it installs the package.

If your software app will not install the package, install WOPR from the command line. Do the same on another Linux, such as openSUSE, or Fedora Silverblue and the other atomic desktops.

wopr is one program, with nothing else to install. It runs on Windows 11, macOS 26 Tahoe and Linux, on amd64 (x86-64) or arm64 computers, in a terminal at least 80 columns wide and 24 rows tall. It never uses the network, and it collects no data.

Uninstall

wopr keeps no settings. The only file it leaves behind is a debug log, if you ever made one. The steps below delete that too.

If you installed WOPR with a download button:

Open Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps.
Click … next to WOPR, then Uninstall.
Click Uninstall again, then Yes.

On Windows 10, open Settings, then Apps, then Apps & features. Click WOPR, then Uninstall. This removes the Start menu entry and the debug log too. It also removes WOPR’s folder from your PATH, even if the PowerShell line put it there.

Open a terminal, and remove the package and the debug log. For the .deb:

sudo apt remove wopr; rm -rf "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/wopr"

For the .rpm:

sudo dnf remove wopr; rm -rf "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/wopr"

This also removes WOPR from your app menu.

If you installed it from the command line:

In PowerShell, this line deletes WOPR’s folder and its debug log, and removes the folder from your PATH:

$d = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\wopr"; Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $d -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; $k = [Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::CurrentUser.CreateSubKey('Environment'); $p = $k.GetValue('Path', '', 'DoNotExpandEnvironmentNames'); $k.SetValue('Path', ((@($p -split ';') | Where-Object { $_ -and $_ -ne $d }) -join ';'), 'ExpandString'); $k.Close(); [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('WOPR_PATH_REFRESH', $null, 'User'); Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\wopr" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

rm -f ~/.local/bin/wopr; rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/wopr

If the install line added a PATH line to ~/.zprofile (or ~/.bash_profile), that line is harmless. Delete it with a text editor if you like. An earlier version of this page put wopr in /usr/local/bin. Remove that copy with sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/wopr.

rm -f ~/.local/bin/wopr; rm -rf "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/wopr"

If the install line added a PATH line to ~/.bashrc (or ~/.zshrc), that line is harmless. Delete it with a text editor if you like. An earlier version of this page put wopr in /usr/local/bin. Remove that copy with sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/wopr.

Delete wopr from Go’s bin folder, ~/go/bin on Linux and macOS:

rm "$(go env GOPATH)/bin/wopr"

Then delete the debug log: rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/wopr on macOS, or rm -rf "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/wopr" on Linux.

On Windows, in PowerShell, this line deletes both:

Remove-Item "$(go env GOPATH)\bin\wopr.exe"; Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\wopr" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Command line install methods

Each tab has a line to paste into a terminal. The line downloads the latest release, installs it, and starts WOPR. Go’s line only installs it. Use these lines if you prefer a terminal, if you want the wopr command on a Mac, or on a Linux that the download buttons do not cover.

Open PowerShell (search for PowerShell in the Start menu), paste this line, and press Enter:

$a = if ("$env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE $env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432" -match 'ARM64') { 'arm64' } else { 'amd64' }; $d = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\wopr"; $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $d; curl.exe -fL --proto '=https' --ssl-revoke-best-effort -o "$d\wopr.exe" "https://github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/releases/download/v0.6.0/wopr_0.6.0_windows_$a.exe"; if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) { $k = [Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::CurrentUser.CreateSubKey('Environment'); $p = $k.GetValue('Path', '', 'DoNotExpandEnvironmentNames'); if (($p -split ';') -notcontains $d) { $k.SetValue('Path', ((@($p -split ';') + $d | Where-Object { $_ }) -join ';'), 'ExpandString'); [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('WOPR_PATH_REFRESH', $null, 'User') }; $k.Close(); $env:Path += ";$d"; & "$d\wopr.exe" }

It puts wopr.exe in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\wopr, adds that folder to your PATH, and starts it. To play again, open PowerShell and type wopr.

If Smart App Control is on, Windows blocks wopr. Smart App Control blocks every program that is not signed, with no exception for one program, and wopr is not signed yet. Troubleshooting says more.

Open Terminal (in Applications, then Utilities), paste this line, and press Enter. It puts wopr in ~/.local/bin, in your home folder, so it needs no password:

f=$(mktemp) && curl -fL --proto '=https' -o "$f" "https://github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/releases/download/v0.6.0/wopr_0.6.0_darwin_$(uname -m | sed s/x86_64/amd64/)" && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && install -m 755 "$f" ~/.local/bin/wopr && rm "$f" && { case ":$PATH:" in *":$HOME/.local/bin:"*) ;; *) r=~/.zprofile; [ "${SHELL##*/}" = bash ] && r=~/.bash_profile; grep -qs '/.local/bin' "$r" || echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> "$r" ;; esac; } && ~/.local/bin/wopr

To play again, open a new Terminal window and type wopr. The line adds ~/.local/bin to your PATH in ~/.zprofile (or in ~/.bash_profile if you use bash), unless it is there already.

For any Linux. Open a terminal, paste this line, and press Enter. It puts wopr in ~/.local/bin, in your home folder, so it needs no password:

f=$(mktemp) && u="https://github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/releases/download/v0.6.0/wopr_0.6.0_linux_$(uname -m | sed 's/x86_64/amd64/;s/aarch64/arm64/')" && { if command -v curl >/dev/null; then curl -fL --proto '=https' -o "$f" "$u"; else wget --https-only -O "$f" "$u"; fi; } && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && install -m 755 "$f" ~/.local/bin/wopr && rm "$f" && { case ":$PATH:" in *":$HOME/.local/bin:"*) ;; *) r=~/.bashrc; [ "${SHELL##*/}" = zsh ] && r=~/.zshrc; grep -qs '/.local/bin' "$r" || echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> "$r" ;; esac; } && ~/.local/bin/wopr

To play again, open a new terminal and type wopr. If ~/.local/bin was not on your PATH, the line adds it in ~/.bashrc (or in ~/.zshrc if you use zsh). This works on Fedora Silverblue and the other atomic desktops too, where dnf install does not.

For Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and their relatives. Open a terminal, paste this line, and press Enter. It asks for your password, to install the package:

f=$(mktemp --suffix=.deb) && u="https://github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/releases/download/v0.6.0/wopr_0.6.0-1_$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb" && { if command -v wget >/dev/null; then wget --https-only -O "$f" "$u"; else curl -fL --proto '=https' -o "$f" "$u"; fi; } && chmod 644 "$f" && sudo apt install -y "$f" && rm "$f" && wopr

To play again, type wopr. You can also click WOPR in your app menu, which opens it in a terminal window. Right-click it to start Chess, Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War or Movie Mode at once. The package puts the program in /usr/games. As root, or in a small container, that folder is not on the PATH: run /usr/games/wopr there. The package also installs the manual page, man wopr. To remove it, run sudo apt remove wopr.

For Fedora, RHEL, CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux and their relatives. Open a terminal, paste this line, and press Enter. It asks for your password, to trust wopr’s signing key and install the package:

sudo rpm --import https://ghostofgoes.github.io/WOPR/wopr-signing-key.asc && sudo dnf install -y --disablerepo='*' --setopt=localpkg_gpgcheck=1 "https://github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/releases/download/v0.6.0/wopr-0.6.0-1.$(uname -m).rpm" && wopr

dnf checks the package’s signature against the key, and it refuses a package that does not match. The key’s fingerprint is B61F F1E7 7B9B 23A0 088F 4ED1 FBDA 9FB4 6837 FCB1. To play again, type wopr. You can also click WOPR in your app menu, which opens it in a terminal window. Right-click it to start Chess, Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War or Movie Mode at once. The package puts the program in /usr/bin, and it also installs the manual page, man wopr. To remove it, run sudo dnf remove wopr. On Fedora Silverblue and the other atomic desktops, use the Linux (any) tab.

On openSUSE, use zypper, which checks the signature too:

sudo rpm --import https://ghostofgoes.github.io/WOPR/wopr-signing-key.asc && sudo zypper install -y "https://github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/releases/download/v0.6.0/wopr-0.6.0-1.$(uname -m).rpm" && wopr

You need Go 1.21 or newer. Open a terminal, paste this line, and press Enter. The first time, Go downloads the Go version that this project needs:

go install github.com/GhostofGoes/WOPR/cmd/wopr@latest

The line builds the latest release into Go’s bin folder: ~/go/bin on Linux and macOS, %USERPROFILE%\go\bin on Windows. If your terminal cannot find wopr, add that folder to your PATH.

If go says unknown directive: toolchain, your Go is older than 1.21. Install the newest Go from go.dev, and try again. If go says that the module needs a newer Go, and mentions GOTOOLCHAIN=local, run go env -w GOTOOLCHAIN=auto once, and try again.

Verifying binaries

This section is for people who want proof that a file came from this project before they trust it. You do not need it to install wopr.

Every file in a release has a build-provenance attestation: a signed record, kept by GitHub, of the commit and the workflow that built the file. To check a file:

Install the GitHub CLI, gh, version 2.68 or newer. Sign in once with gh auth login. A free GitHub account is enough. On Debian and Ubuntu, use the package repository that cli.github.com describes: the gh in the distributions’ own repositories is too old.
Run gh attestation verify on the file. The command below names the latest release. For an older file, put in its version: the one in the file’s name, or the one that wopr --version prints for the program you installed.
```
gh attestation verify FILE --repo GhostofGoes/WOPR \
  --signer-workflow GhostofGoes/WOPR/.github/workflows/release.yml \
  --source-ref refs/tags/v0.6.0 --deny-self-hosted-runners
```
FILE is a file you downloaded, such as wopr_0.6.0_linux_amd64, or the program you installed: "$(command -v wopr)" on Linux and macOS, (Get-Command wopr).Source in PowerShell. The check compares the file’s contents, so the file’s name does not matter. A program installed with go install was built on your computer, not by the release workflow. It has no attestation, so this check fails for it. Go already checked its source against the Go checksum database. The program inside the Mac app does not pass the check either, because it is not one of the release’s files (see the list below). Check the .dmg you downloaded instead.

Verification succeeded! means that this repository’s release workflow built the file from the tagged source, on GitHub’s own machines. For a file from a release, any other result means: do not run it.

gh attestation verify on a Linux archive: the repository, the workflow and the tag all match. — `gh attestation verify` on a Linux archive: the repository, the workflow and the tag all match.

To check a file before you run it at all, download it by hand from the latest release, check it, and only then install it. Each release has, for each system:

wopr_<version>_<os>_<arch> (.exe on Windows): the program itself. <os> is linux, darwin (macOS) or windows. <arch> is amd64 or arm64. On Linux and macOS, make it executable with chmod +x.
wopr_<version>_<os>_<arch>.tar.gz (.zip on Windows): the program with the README, the licence and the notices. On Linux and macOS it also holds the manual page, wopr.6.
wopr_<version>_windows_setup.exe: the Windows installer. It holds both Windows programs, and it installs the one that fits the computer as wopr.exe, unchanged. So the check passes for the installed wopr.exe too.
wopr_<version>_macos.dmg: the Mac app, WOPR.app, in a disk image. Its program joins the two macOS programs into one file, so it matches neither of them. Check the .dmg itself, before you open it.
wopr_<version>-1_<arch>.deb (<arch> as above: amd64 or arm64) and wopr-<version>-1.<arch>.rpm (here <arch> is x86_64 or aarch64, as uname -m prints it): the Linux packages. Install a file you downloaded with sudo apt install ./FILE or sudo dnf install ./FILE.
checksums.txt: the SHA-256 checksum of every file. The installer and the .dmg are listed and attested like the rest.
checksums.txt.asc and wopr_<version>-1_<arch>.deb.asc: OpenPGP signatures of checksums.txt and the .deb files, made with wopr’s signing key. The .rpm files carry their signature inside.

To check a signature:

Download the signing key, and check that its fingerprint is B61F F1E7 7B9B 23A0 088F 4ED1 FBDA 9FB4 6837 FCB1.
Run gpg --import wopr-signing-key.asc.
Run gpg --verify checksums.txt.asc checksums.txt (or gpg --verify FILE.deb.asc FILE.deb). Good signature means that the file is as the release workflow signed it.
Run sha256sum --ignore-missing -c checksums.txt. It checks the files you downloaded against a list that you now know is genuine.

For an .rpm, import the key with rpm --import, then run rpm -K FILE.rpm. It prints digests signatures OK.

A program downloaded with a web browser carries a mark that says it came from the internet, and the system may stop it. After you check the file:

macOS says that it cannot check the program for malware. Clear the mark with xattr -d com.apple.quarantine FILE. For the Mac app, follow the steps in the macOS tab under Install. Or drag the app to Applications, and clear the mark from all of it with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/WOPR.app before you open it.
Windows SmartScreen may say that it does not recognise the program. Choose More info, then Run anyway. Or clear the mark with Unblock-File FILE in PowerShell.

The lines in Command line install methods download with curl, wget or dnf, which do not mark files, so these warnings do not appear for them. For the installer and the Mac app, the Windows and macOS tabs under Install say what to click. Windows’ Smart App Control is different: when it is on, it blocks every program that is not signed, however the program was downloaded. Troubleshooting says more.

Development builds

Every CI run on main builds all six targets. Open a CI run on main and download your platform’s file under Artifacts. It is the bare program: on Linux and macOS, make it executable with chmod +x. The run also has the Windows installer, installer-windows, and the Mac app, installer-macos. Development builds are for testing. They carry no attestation.

Quickstart Usage