# Install autogen with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Automated text file generator. Version 5.18.16 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:autogen ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install autogen ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install autogen ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/autogen/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install autogen ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: autogen from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install autogen ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: autogen from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#autogen ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/au/autogen/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S autogen ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: autogen from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install autogen ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: autogen from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:autogen - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 5.18.16 - **Source summary:** Automated text file generator - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:30:02-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - autogen (cli) - autoopts-config (cli) - columns (cli) - getdefs (cli) - xml2ag (cli) - autogen (alias) - autoopts-config (alias) - columns (alias) - getdefs (alias) - xml2ag (alias) ## Dependencies - bdw-gc - guile ## Build dependencies - coreutils - pkgconf ## Uses from macOS - libxml2 ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 5.18.16 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://autogen.sourceforge.net/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage GNU AutoGen is a GNU code and text generation utility built around definition files and templates. Its package identity is very Unixy: a command-line generator for maintainers who want repeatable source, option, or configuration files instead of hand-editing generated boilerplate. ### Project history AutoGen is associated with Bruce Korb and the GNU project; the GNU manual and AutoGen pages present it as a general automated text-file generator rather than a language-specific compiler tool. The package also includes related commands such as AutoOpts tooling, getdefs, columns, and xml2ag, which made it useful in build and release workflows beyond a single executable. The project lived in the GNU/Savannah ecosystem and also maintained a SourceForge-facing homepage, reflecting a common early-2000s free-software distribution pattern: GNU project page, Savannah source control, tarball releases, and downstream packaging by Unix distributions. ### Adoption history AutoGen is packaged across traditional Unix package managers including Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE according to the batch input. That breadth signals long-tail adoption in developer-tool stacks even though the project is much less visible than the Autotools packages it often sits near. Its adoption has mostly been indirect: users encounter it as a dependency or maintainer-side generator in source releases, not as a fashionable end-user CLI. ### How it is used AutoGen users write definitions and templates, then run the autogen command to emit source or text files. Package users also see the auxiliary tools listed by the Homebrew formula, including autoopts-config, columns, getdefs, and xml2ag. It is not a credentials-oriented tool and the official curation does not document a single user configuration path. ### Why package nerds care For package maintainers, AutoGen matters as one of the older GNU-era generator utilities that can appear in bootstrap chains. It is the kind of package that explains why source builds sometimes need more than a compiler and make: generated files may come from project-specific template systems. ### Timeline - 1990s-2000s: AutoGen develops as a GNU automated text and program generation tool. - 2010s: GNU manual and Savannah repository remain the official documentation/source-control surfaces. - 2020s: AutoGen remains packaged in multiple Unix package managers, mostly as a maintainer/developer utility. ### Related projects - AutoOpts is distributed with AutoGen and provides option-processing support generated from definitions. - GNU Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool occupy the neighboring build-bootstrap space where generated project files are common. ### Sources - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** autogen - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 3 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - autogen - 1:5.18.16-7: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: autogen from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | automated text file generator | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Debian apt - autogen-doc - 1:5.18.16-7: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: autogen-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | automated text file generator - documentation | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Debian apt - libopts25 - 1:5.18.16-7: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libopts25 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | automated option processing library based on autogen | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Debian apt - libopts25-dev - 1:5.18.16-7: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libopts25-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | automated option processing library based on autogen | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Nix - autogen: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/au/autogen/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - autogen - 1:5.18.16-5build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: autogen from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | automated text file generator | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Ubuntu apt - autogen-doc - 1:5.18.16-5build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: autogen-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | automated text file generator - documentation | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Ubuntu apt - libopts25 - 1:5.18.16-5build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libopts25 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | automated option processing library based on autogen | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - Ubuntu apt - libopts25-dev - 1:5.18.16-5build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libopts25-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | automated option processing library based on autogen | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - dnf - autogen - 5.18.16-32.fc43: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: autogen from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Automated text file generator | http://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - dnf - autogen-libopts - 5.18.16-32.fc43: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: autogen-libopts from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Automated option processing library based on autogen | http://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - dnf - autogen-libopts-devel - 5.18.16-32.fc43: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: autogen-libopts-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development files for libopts | http://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - pacman - autogen - 5.18.16-6: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: autogen from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A tool designed to simplify the creation and maintenance of programs that contain large amounts of repetitious text | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - zypper - autogen - 5.18.16-9.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: autogen from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Automated Text File Generator | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - zypper - autoopts - 5.18.16-9.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: autoopts from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Automated Option Processing | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ - zypper - libopts25 - 5.18.16-9.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: libopts25 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Shared library libopts | https://www.gnu.org/software/autogen/ ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [guile](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/guile/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [coreutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/coreutils/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gnu-complexity](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gnu-complexity/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [gperf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gperf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools, gnu. - [sourcery](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sourcery/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools, templates. - [stencil](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/stencil/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools, templates. - [treecc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/treecc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools, gnu. - [configen](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/configen/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools. - [counterfeiter](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/counterfeiter/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools. - [cproto](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cproto/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools. - [crcany](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/crcany/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-generation, developer-tools. - [poke](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/poke/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: bdw, bdw-gc, cli, developer, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/autogen.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/autogen.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph