Install analog with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• analog

Project history

The bundled manpage identifies Analog as Stephen R. E. Turner's web server logfile analyzer, copyrighted 1995-2004, with version 6.0 dated 19 December 2004. It describes the program as fast log analysis software that produces attractive statistics and is usually configured through a configuration file rather than command-line options.

Analog CE was created after Turner stopped maintaining the original project. The CE maintainer states that CE is a maintenance release: newer binaries, updated browser and operating-system detection, XML output bug fixes, link privacy improvements, and a small number of optimizations, while preserving the fundamental functionality.

Adoption history

Analog's original adoption came from the classic web-hosting era, when static reports over Apache and other server logs were a normal way to understand traffic. CE's adoption is more preservation-and-maintenance oriented: it keeps old workflows working while refreshing recognition of newer clients.

The supplied package facts show Analog packaged by Homebrew, Debian, MacPorts, Nix, and Ubuntu. That long tail is typical for mature Unix tools: even after the center of web analytics moved elsewhere, distributions kept the analyzer available for users with historical logs, simple reporting needs, or scripts built around its output.

How it is used

The `analog` executable analyzes one or more log files and can emit reports in formats such as HTML or plain text. The manpage documents a large option surface but says normal use is through configuration files.

CE is especially relevant when users need better detection of newer operating systems and web browsers, XML formatting fixes, or public statistics pages with improved link privacy.

Why package nerds care

Analog CE is a package-maintainer story about keeping a classic C-era web tool alive after upstream maintenance stopped. The value is compatibility: old config files, reports, and automation continue to work while the recognition database is refreshed.

For package nerds, it also illustrates why 'dead' tools remain in distributions. Log formats, cron jobs, and static reports can outlive the popularity cycle of web analytics products by decades.

Timeline

• 1995: Analog copyright period begins according to the bundled manpage.
• 2004: Analog 6.0 manpage dated 19 December 2004.
• 2019: Analog CE GitHub repository created.
• Current CE README: maintainer describes CE as a maintenance release after Stephen Turner stopped maintaining Analog.

Related projects

• Stephen Turner's original Analog: the upstream project that CE maintains.
• Report Magic: referenced by CE guides for report presentation workflows.
• Web server access logs: the data source Analog was designed to analyze.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/c-amie/analog-ce
• https://github.com/c-amie/analog-ce
• https://github.com/c-amie/analog-ce#readme
• https://github.com/c-amie/analog-ce/blob/master/analog.man
• source_facts.package-manager