macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install mawklocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install mawkMacPorts ports tree · lang/mawk/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install mawk with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper
Interpreter for the AWK Programming Language. Version 1.3.4-20260302 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add mawkAlpine Linux edge package indexes · mawk · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install mawkDebian stable package indexes · mawk · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install mawkFedora Rawhide package metadata · mawk · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#mawknixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ma/mawk/package.nix · source: api.github.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install mawkopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · mawk · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Interpreter for the AWK Programming Language
Project links
Commands and aliases
- mawk
history
Project history and usage
mawk is a compact AWK interpreter used for fast pattern scanning, text processing, and shell scripting.
Project history
The current official mawk page says Mike Brennan wrote mawk, that it had no maintainer for a time, and that Thomas E. Dickey adopted it in 2009 by starting with Debian package fixes and unresolved reports. The official changelog preserves the older 1.3 series history and shows the long maintenance gap being bridged by Debian patches and later upstream work.
The manpage frames mawk as a 'new awk' implementation of the AWK language defined by Aho, Kernighan, and Weinberger, with POSIX draft compatibility and a small set of implementation extensions.
Adoption history
mawk's adoption has been strongest in Unix-like packaging culture. The official page lists package links for AIX, Arch, DragonFly BSD, Fedora, Fink, FreeBSD, Gentoo, Haiku, Homebrew, HPUX, MacPorts, Mageia, and others, and the input confirms distribution through common Linux and macOS package managers.
How it is used
Users invoke `mawk` like other AWK implementations: short programs can be passed on the command line, longer programs via `-f`, and input comes from files or standard input. Its `-W` options expose mawk-specific behavior such as dump, interactive mode, POSIX mode, traditional mode, and version output.
Why package nerds care
mawk matters because AWK is one of the classic packaging and build-script workhorses. It gives packagers a small, fast AWK implementation whose behavior must be tracked carefully against POSIX awk, BWK awk, and GNU awk.
Timeline
- 1996: mawk 1.3 and 1.3.2 releases appear in the official changelog.
- 2008: Debian patches are incorporated into the later upstream maintenance history.
- 2009: Thomas E. Dickey adopts mawk maintenance.
- 2010: 1.3.4 maintenance snapshots begin after the original 1.3.3 plus Debian patches baseline.
- 2026: Official changelog still records active maintenance.
Related projects
- awk, BWK awk, GNU awk, POSIX awk, Debian mawk package
Sources
security posture
Risk level: yellow
generalized runtime or code generation signal.
Risk classifier
yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime
Why
- generalized runtime or code generation signal
Signals
- text:interpreter,programming language
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
mawk | 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 version1.3.4-20260302
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://invisible-island.net/mawk/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:mawk |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.3.4-20260302 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/mawk |
| Homepage | https://invisible-island.net/mawk/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/ThomasDickey/mawk-snapshots |
| Upstream docs | https://invisible-island.net/mawk |
| License | GPL-2.0-only |
| Source archive | https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/mawk/mawk-1.3.4-20260302.tgz |
| 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 | mawk |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| 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.
Debian apt95%
mawk 1.3.4.20250131-1
Pattern scanning and text processing language
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/
sudo apt install mawk- Section: interpreters
- Architecture: amd64
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
Nix95%
mawk
nix profile install nixpkgs#mawk- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
Ubuntu apt95%
mawk 1.3.4.20240123-1build1
Pattern scanning and text processing language
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/
sudo apt install mawk- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
apk95%
mawk 1.3.4_p20260302-r0
mawk is an interpreter for the AWK Programming Language
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/
sudo apk add mawk- License: GPL-2.0-only
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mawk
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
apk95%
mawk-doc 1.3.4_p20260302-r0
mawk is an interpreter for the AWK Programming Language (documentation)
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/
sudo apk add mawk-doc- License: GPL-2.0-only
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mawk
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
dnf95%
mawk 1.3.4-6.20260302.fc45
Interpreter for the AWK programming language
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/
sudo dnf install mawk- License: GPL-2.0-only
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mawk
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
zypper95%
mawk 1.3.4.20240622-1.6
Implementation of New/POSIX AWK
https://invisible-island.net/mawk/mawk.html
sudo zypper install mawk- License: GPL-2.0-only
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mawk
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
MacPorts95%
mawk
sudo port install mawk- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mawk
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