Hello nest users with a mac,

From now on, it is possible to install nest via homebrew from the default homebrew-core tap: https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nest#default

You get nest 2.20.0 with OpenMP and PyNEST bindings with python 3.8 delivered as a 'bottle' (prebuild binary package) in a couple of seconds - with all dependencies.

Go to https://brew.sh/ and follow the installation of homebrew. When brew is installed, just type:

brew install nest

And you should see something like:

$ brew install nest
==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/nest-2.20.0_1.catalina.bottle.tar.gz
==> Downloading from https://akamai.bintray.com/38/38bfd492f381cd059a495122d1c3342e8fb5095501c0422e6c9e04e861cc0d31?__gd
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Pouring nest-2.20.0_1.catalina.bottle.tar.gz
Warning: nest dependency gcc was built with a different C++ standard
library (libstdc++ from clang). This may cause problems at runtime.
==> Caveats
The PyNEST bindings and its dependencies are installed with the python@3.8 formula.
If you want to use PyNEST, use the Python interpreter from this path:

 /usr/local/opt/python@3.8/bin

You may want to add this to your PATH.
==> Summary
🍺 /usr/local/Cellar/nest/2.20.0_1: 1,290 files, 21.2MB

Now you can run nest like:

$ nest
              -- N E S T --
  Copyright (C) 2004 The NEST Initiative

 Version: nest-2.20.0
 Built: Jun 22 2020 13:38:00

 This program is provided AS IS and comes with
 NO WARRANTY. See the file LICENSE for details.

 Problems or suggestions?
   Visit https://www.nest-simulator.org

 Type 'help' to get more information.
 Type 'quit' or press CTRL-D to quit.

SLI ]

If you want to use PyNEST, you have to use the python@3.8 formula python - the dependencies numpy, scipy, etc. are also delivered via homebrew and they are build with the python@3.8 formula, which is keg-only. Add the opt-bin path to your PATH variable like:

export PATH=/usr/local/opt/python@3.8/bin:$PATH

and you can start with:

$ python3.8 -c 'import nest'
              -- N E S T --
  Copyright (C) 2004 The NEST Initiative

 Version: nest-2.20.0
 Built: Jun 22 2020 13:38:00

 This program is provided AS IS and comes with
 NO WARRANTY. See the file LICENSE for details.

 Problems or suggestions?
   Visit https://www.nest-simulator.org

 Type 'nest.help()' to find out more about NEST.

Best, Tammo