install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install fdclone

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install FDclone

MacPorts ports tree · sysutils/FDclone/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install fdclone

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

overview

Package summary

Console-based file manager

Project links

Commands and aliases

fdsh

history

Project history and usage

FDclone is a console file and directory maintenance tool for Unix-like systems, modeled after the Japanese MS-DOS file manager FD and shipped with an integrated shell as `fdsh`.

Project history

The English README says FDclone is a Unix file and directory maintenance tool and a clone of the MS-DOS FD utility made by A. Idei in 1989. Takashi Shirai wrote FDclone to preserve the familiar FD-style workflow for users moving from MS-DOS to Unix while implementing the program independently.

The official project page explains that FDclone 2.00 was a major change because it embedded shell functionality without using `system(3)`. FDclone 3.00 arrived seven years after 2.00 because network support required large changes to source organization and required libraries.

Adoption history

The official page describes FD as popular enough among Japanese MS-DOS users that its name became a synonym for file maintenance tools. FDclone carried that interaction model into Unix terminals, with attention to Japanese text handling, terminal behavior, archives, and a split-window browser.

The official history records portability and environment support over many years: Linux/ia64, Cygwin, NetBSD, MINIX, Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Darwin or Mac OS X fixes. The supplied package metadata also shows FDclone packaged by Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu, and MacPorts.

How it is used

The English manual describes `fd` as a text-terminal browser with file lists, tree and archive browser modes, marked-file operations, function-key commands, and internal commands for copying, deleting, renaming, sorting, finding, packing, unpacking, and editing files.

The `fdsh` executable exposes the internal shell side. That makes FDclone unusual among file managers in package collections: it is both a visual terminal file manager and a shell environment shaped by its MS-DOS heritage.

Why package nerds care

FDclone is historically interesting because it preserves a Japanese DOS-era file-manager lineage inside Unix package managers. It is not a modern minimal CLI; it is a compatibility and culture artifact with deep terminal, Kanji, archive, network, and shell behavior.

For package maintainers, its significance is also practical: the official history shows long-running portability work across older Unix variants, Japanese encodings, Cygwin, Android, BSDs, MINIX, and MS-DOS build modes.

Timeline

1989: Original MS-DOS FD utility created by A. Idei.
2008: FDclone 3.00 added URL drive, socket redirection, and message catalogs.
2012: FDclone 3.01 added IME-related variables and frequency dictionary features.
2019: FDclone 3.01j fixed symbolic-link handling and Kanji conversion issues.

Related projects

FDclone is directly related to the original MS-DOS FD file maintenance tool by A. Idei.
The README also mentions an earlier Unix file maintenance tool named `fu`, whose users reportedly aliased it to `fd`, reinforcing the value of the FD name for DOS-to-Unix users.

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 11 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

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
`fdsh`	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 version3.01j

manager updated2026-07-03

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA012337/soft/fd/

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA012337/soft/fd/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:fdclone
Version	3.01j
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/fdclone
Homepage	https://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA012337/soft/fd/
Upstream docs	https://www.unixusers.net/authors/VA012337/soft/fd/index.html
License	LicenseRef-Homebrew-cannot-represent
Source archive	https://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/fdclone/fdclone_3.01j.orig.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-07-03T16:35:56-04:00
Pulse	updated
Build dependencies	nkf
Uses from macOS	ncurses
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared
Caveats	To install the initial config file: install -c -m 0644 $HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/fdclone/share/fdclone/fd2rc.dist ~/.fd2rc To set application messages to Japanese, edit your .fd2rc: MESSAGELANG="ja"

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	fdclone
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Conflicts With	fd
Requirements	maximum_macos
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	yes
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	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%

fdclone 3.01j-1.1

console-base lightweight file manager

https://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA012337/soft/fd/

sudo apt install fdclone

Section: shells
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fdclone

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

Ubuntu apt95%

fdclone 3.01j-1

console-base lightweight file manager

http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA012337/soft/fd/

sudo apt install fdclone

Section: universe/shells
Architecture: amd64
2 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fdclone

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

MacPorts95%

FDclone

sudo port install FDclone

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fdclone

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/FDclone/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

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/fdclone.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 fdclone with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts