macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install distributionlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install distribution with Homebrew, Nix, zypper
Create ASCII graphical histograms in the terminal. Version 1.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#distributionnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/di/distribution/package.nix · source: api.github.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install distribution-registryopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · distribution-registry · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Create ASCII graphical histograms in the terminal
Project links
Commands and aliases
- distribution
history
Project history and usage
distribution is a terminal histogram and graphing tool for turning command output into character-based charts. Its appeal is the old Unix habit of inserting one small filter into a pipeline to make text data easier to inspect.
Project history
The README says the original scripts were written in Perl and Python by Tim Ellis, then expanded beyond simple frequency histograms into time-series and arbitrary x-axis graphs. The current canonical README also records a project-control transfer from the previous maintainer to wizzat.
Adoption history
distribution's own installation notes mention Homebrew as the simple install route, while the input package facts show availability in Brew and Nix. That is modest adoption, but enough to place it in the family of small terminal data-inspection packages.
How it is used
The common pattern is to pipe a list, count stream, syslog slice, process list, or du output into distribution and let it render a proportional ASCII or Unicode chart. It supports tokenization, pre-aggregated key/value input, numeric-only graphs, colors, terminal-size aware output, and an rcfile for preferred defaults.
Why package nerds care
distribution is package-nerdy because it makes ad hoc shell observability friendlier without asking users to leave the terminal or produce a heavyweight plot. It is the kind of tiny data tool that survives in package managers because it composes with everything.
Timeline
- 2017: Current canonical GitHub repository created.
- 2017: README records transfer of project control to the wizzat distribution repository.
- 2022: Repository metadata shows continued maintenance activity into the early 2020s.
Related projects
- The README names holman's spark as a related compact graphing project, contrasting spark's smaller output with distribution's more verbose higher-resolution charts.
- Standard Unix tools such as sort, uniq, du, awk, and ps are common upstream producers for distribution pipelines.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 1 platform targets.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
distribution | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version1.3
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detected1.3
https://github.com/time-less-ness/distribution
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:distribution |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.3 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/distribution |
| Homepage | https://github.com/time-less-ness/distribution |
| Repository | https://github.com/time-less-ness/distribution |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/time-less-ness/distribution#readme |
| License | GPL-2.0-only |
| Source archive | https://github.com/time-less-ness/distribution/archive/refs/tags/1.3.tar.gz |
| Uses from macOS | python |
| Bottle | available (on all) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | distribution |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Nix95%
distribution
nix profile install nixpkgs#distribution- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Distribution
zypper95%
distribution-registry 3.1.1-3.1
Registry server following OCI Distribution Specification
https://github.com/distribution/distribution
sudo zypper install distribution-registry- License: Apache-2.0
- Category: System/Management
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: distribution
- 4 dependencies
- 5 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Distribution
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment