brew

Install enca with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Charset analyzer and converter. Version 1.22 via Homebrew; verified 2026-04-09.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install enca

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install enca

MacPorts ports tree · textproc/enca/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add enca

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · enca · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install enca

Debian stable package indexes · enca · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install enca

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · enca · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#enca

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/en/enca/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S enca

Arch Linux sync databases · enca · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install enca

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · enca · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Charset analyzer and converter

Project links

Commands and aliases

enca
enconv

history

Project history and usage

Enca, the Extremely Naive Charset Analyser, is a command-line tool and library for detecting text encodings and converting files through built-in and external converters. Its niche is old-fashioned but still practical: figuring out what character set a text file is using before a script or migration mangles it.

Project history

The README preserves a clear maintenance lineage: original copyright by David Necas from 2000 to 2003, later work by Michal Cihar from 2009 to 2016, and Project OSS Revival maintenance from 2025 to 2026. Michal Cihar's project page lists Enca 1.19 and links the historical `nijel/enca` repository, while the package metadata points to the revived Project OSS Revival repository.

Adoption history

Enca's adoption has been mostly in Unix text-processing and distribution packaging rather than in application-level branding. Its value comes from being scriptable through the `enca` and `enconv` commands and from supporting Central and Eastern European language encodings alongside multibyte encodings.

How it is used

Users run `enca` to guess an input file's encoding and `enconv` or converter integration to rewrite text into another encoding. The README documents optional use of GNU recode, iconv, Perl charset converters, and cstocs, which is exactly the kind of plumbing that made it useful in legacy text cleanup workflows.

Why package nerds care

Enca is a classic small Unix package: autoconf build, C library plus CLI frontend, optional converter backends, and a job that mostly appears when old text meets modern UTF-8 assumptions. It matters to packagers because charset detection and conversion bugs are painful, regional, and hard to replace with a generic shell one-liner.

Timeline

2000-2003: Original Enca development credited to David Necas.
2009-2016: Michal Cihar maintained Enca and published 1.19-era releases.
2013: Public GitHub repository lineage was present on GitHub.
2025-2026: Project OSS Revival copyright appears in the revived README.

Related projects

GNU recode, iconv, Perl Unicode::Map, and cstocs are documented as converter integrations or related tools.
libenca is the library component behind the command-line frontend.

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 6 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
`enca`	cli	global executable
`enconv`	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 version1.22

manager updated2026-04-09

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/Project-OSS-Revival/enca

infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/Project-OSS-Revival/encanone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:enca
Version	1.22
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/enca
Homepage	https://cihar.com/software/enca/
Repository	https://github.com/Project-OSS-Revival/enca
Upstream docs	https://cihar.com/software/enca
License	GPL-2.0-only
Source archive	https://github.com/Project-OSS-Revival/enca/releases/download/1.22/enca-1.22.tar.xz
Last updated	2026-04-09T20:41:11Z
Pulse	updated
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	enca
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	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

enca 1.19-3

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - binaries

https://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install enca

Section: text
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
1 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: enca from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Debian apt95%

libenca-dev 1.19-3

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - development files

https://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install libenca-dev

Section: libdevel
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libenca-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Debian apt95%

libenca0 1.19-3

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - shared library files

https://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install libenca0

Section: libs
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: libenca0 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Nix95%

enca

nix profile install nixpkgs#enca

normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/en/enca/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Ubuntu apt95%

enca 1.19-1.1build1

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - binaries

http://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install enca

Section: universe/text
Architecture: amd64
3 dependencies
1 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: enca from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

Ubuntu apt95%

libenca-dbg 1.19-1.1build1

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - debug files

http://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install libenca-dbg

Section: universe/debug
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libenca-dbg from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

Ubuntu apt95%

libenca-dev 1.19-1.1build1

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - development files

http://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install libenca-dev

Section: universe/libdevel
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libenca-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

Ubuntu apt95%

libenca0 1.19-1.1build1

Extremely Naive Charset Analyser - shared library files

http://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo apt install libenca0

Section: universe/libs
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libenca0 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

apk95%

enca 1.19-r4

Charset analyser and converter

http://freshmeat.net/projects/enca/

sudo apk add enca

License: GPL-2.0-only
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: enca from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

apk95%

enca-dev 1.19-r4

Charset analyser and converter (development files)

http://freshmeat.net/projects/enca/

sudo apk add enca-dev

License: GPL-2.0-only
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: enca
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: enca-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

apk95%

enca-doc 1.19-r4

Charset analyser and converter (documentation)

http://freshmeat.net/projects/enca/

sudo apk add enca-doc

License: GPL-2.0-only
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: enca
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: enca-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

dnf95%

enca 1.19-19.fc44

Character set analyzer and detector

http://cihar.com/software/enca

sudo dnf install enca

License: GPL-2.0-only
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: i686
Source Package: enca
3 dependencies
2 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: enca from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

dnf95%

enca-devel 1.19-19.fc44

Header files and libraries for enca charset analyzer

http://cihar.com/software/enca

sudo dnf install enca-devel

License: GPL-2.0-only
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: i686
Source Package: enca
4 dependencies
2 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: enca-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

pacman95%

enca 1.22-1

Charset analyser and converter

https://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo pacman -S enca

License: GPL-2.0-only
Architecture: x86_64
2 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: enca from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

zypper95%

enca 1.19-2.12

Detects encoding of text files

https://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo zypper install enca

License: GPL-2.0-only
Category: Productivity/Other
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: enca
5 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: enca from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

zypper95%

enca-devel 1.19-2.12

Header files and libraries for Enca development

https://cihar.com/software/enca/

sudo zypper install enca-devel

License: GPL-2.0-only
Category: Development/Libraries/C and C++
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: enca
3 dependencies
2 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Enca

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: enca-devel from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

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.

combined/enca.yml

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

Install enca with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Additional install commands

macOS

Linux

Package summary

Project links

Commands and aliases

Project history and usage

Project history

Adoption history

How it is used

Why package nerds care

Timeline

Related projects

Sources

Risk level: green

Risk classifier

Why

Signals

Install behavior

Recommended review

Installed executables

Version and freshness

Package metadata

Source database details

Other package-manager records

Internal package links

Topical hubs

Same workflow

Agent security guides

Generated from repository data

Combined YAML source

Used sources