# Install halibut with Homebrew, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, zypper Yet another free document preparation system. Version 1.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:halibut ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install halibut ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install halibut ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: halibut from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install halibut ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: halibut 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#halibut ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ha/halibut/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S halibut ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: halibut from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install halibut ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: halibut from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:halibut - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.3 - **Source summary:** Yet another free document preparation system - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT AND APAFML - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - halibut (cli) - halibut (alias) ## Build dependencies - cmake ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.3 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Halibut is Simon Tatham's free document preparation system for software manuals. It reads one source format and emits plain text, HTML, PDF, PostScript, Unix man pages, Unix info files, Windows HTML Help, and Windows WinHelp. ### Project history The official Halibut page explains that the idea came from Simon Tatham's work on NASM documentation, where he wanted web, printable, and online-viewable outputs from one source. An earlier Perl implementation proved the concepts but was slow and hard to maintain, so Halibut was rewritten in portable C. Halibut's design is explicitly shaped by dissatisfaction with existing tools for this particular niche. The homepage compares it with TeX, TeXinfo, debiandoc-sgml, and DocBook, emphasizing multi-format output, pervasive cross-references, indexing, Unicode fallback, portability, and configurable output directives. ### Adoption history Halibut is a niche tool, but it persists because it solves a durable problem for maintainers of text-heavy software manuals. The project is associated with Simon Tatham's software ecosystem, and the official page provides both release archives and a public Git repository for development sources. Its package-manager footprint is small but meaningful: users who package or build older software documentation can install `halibut` without adopting a larger documentation framework. Homebrew, Debian-family packages, Fedora-family packages, Arch-family packages, Nix, and openSUSE package names in the input show that the tool has enough downstream utility to be carried by multiple distributions. ### How it is used Users write Halibut source and run the `halibut` executable to generate manuals in several target formats. The supported formats make it useful for projects that want web documentation, printable documents, Unix manual pages, and legacy Windows help outputs from a single source. The official documentation does not describe a user config file or credential store. Its main operational inputs are document source files and output-format directives embedded in or supplied with the documentation build. ### Why package nerds care Halibut is interesting to package nerds because it is a small, old-school build tool with a very specific documentation niche. It is not a general Markdown or DocBook replacement; it survives because some projects need exactly its multi-output manual pipeline. The package is also a reminder that documentation generators are build dependencies. Even when end users never run Halibut directly, distributions may need it to rebuild man pages, HTML manuals, or release documentation from source. ### Timeline - 1999-2007: License text and historical copyright notices associate Halibut's early development with this period. - 2004-2017: The 1.3 manual records manual copyright coverage across this period. - 2021: Halibut 1.3 was released with the documented feature set on the official page. - 2021: The official page documented the recursive Git clone URL and web repository browser for development sources. ### Related projects - NASM: project whose documentation needs inspired Halibut's original ideas. - TeX, TeXinfo, debiandoc-sgml, and DocBook: documentation systems discussed in Halibut's rationale. - Simon Tatham's PuTTY and puzzle projects: neighboring software ecosystem that uses documentation-oriented tooling, though not a direct dependency claim here. ### Sources - - - - ## 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:** halibut - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - halibut - 1.3-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: halibut from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | yet another free document preparation system | https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut.html - Nix - halibut: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ha/halibut/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - halibut - 1.3-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: halibut from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | yet another free document preparation system | https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut.html - dnf - halibut - 1.3-12.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: halibut from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | TeX-like software manual tool | http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut.html - dnf - vim-halibut - 1.3-12.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: vim-halibut from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Syntax file for the halibut manual tool | http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut.html - pacman - halibut - 1.3-3: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: halibut from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Free document preparation system | https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut/ - zypper - halibut - 1.3-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: halibut from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Document preparation system similar to TeX | https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/halibut/ ## 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. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [dita-ot](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dita-ot/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, publishing. - [docutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/docutils/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, text-processing. - [action-docs](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/action-docs/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation. - [adr-tools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/adr-tools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation. - [adr-viewer](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/adr-viewer/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation. - [cargo-docset](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cargo-docset/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation. - [cheat](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cheat/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation. - [context7-mcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/context7-mcp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation. - [docfx](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/docfx/) - Local metadata places this package in an adjacent workflow. Shared terms: cli, developer, developer-tools, documentation, publishing. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/halibut.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/halibut.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