Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install txt2man with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Converts flat ASCII text to man page format. Version 1.7.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-14.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install txt2man

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install txt2man

MacPorts ports tree · textproc/txt2man/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add txt2man

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · txt2man · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install txt2man

Debian stable package indexes · txt2man · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install txt2man

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · txt2man · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#txt2man

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/tx/txt2man/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S txt2man

Arch Linux sync databases · txt2man · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install txt2man

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · txt2man · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Converts flat ASCII text to man page format

Commands and aliases

  • bookman
  • src2man
  • txt2man

history

Project history and usage

txt2man is a shell and GNU awk tool that converts readable flat ASCII text into standard Unix man-page macros.

Project history

The script copyright dates txt2man to 2001-2003, and its changelog starts with the 1.4.6 release in December 2002. It was designed to let authors keep documentation readable as plain text while still generating standard nroff/troff man pages.

The project expanded from the core `txt2man` converter into companion tools. The 2006 changelog records `bookman` for generating books from man pages and `src2man` for extracting man pages from source files, turning the project into a small Unix documentation toolkit.

Adoption history

txt2man has unusually broad package-manager coverage for a small script: the supplied package facts list Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE packaging. That reflects the utility of a dependency-light documentation generator in distro build scripts and upstream release processes.

The later changelog entries are mostly portability and reproducibility work: BSD/GNU date compatibility, gawk warning fixes, SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH support, and reproducible-build changes. Those are package-maintainer concerns, which helps explain why txt2man stayed relevant after its initial early-2000s release era.

How it is used

Users write a text file with recognizable sections, paragraphs, lists, cross references, and literal blocks, then pipe or pass it to `txt2man` to produce man(7) macro output. It can also preview formatted output through groff and a pager.

Why package nerds care

txt2man matters because it keeps the source of a manual page readable without hand-writing roff. For packagers, it is small, inspectable, friendly to reproducible builds, and suitable for projects that want man pages without adopting a larger documentation stack.

Timeline

  • 2001: txt2man script copyright begins.
  • 2002: Changelog starts at txt2man 1.4.6.
  • 2006: Changelog records `bookman` and `src2man` additions.
  • 2016: GitHub release metadata records txt2man 1.6.0.
  • 2020: GitHub release metadata records txt2man 1.7.1.

Related projects

  • bookman: companion command for compiling man pages into a book.
  • src2man: companion command for extracting man pages from source files.
  • groff and mandoc: output/formatting ecosystem referenced by the script help.

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.
  • Installs with 1 runtime 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

CommandKindExposureNote
bookmancliglobal executable
src2mancliglobal executable
txt2mancliglobal 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 version1.7.1
manager updated2026-06-14
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detectedtxt2man-1.7.1

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

  • okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:txt2man
Version1.7.1
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/txt2man
Homepagehttps://github.com/mvertes/txt2man/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/mvertes/txt2man
Upstream docshttps://github.com/mvertes/txt2man#readme
LicenseGPL-2.0-or-later
Source archivehttps://github.com/mvertes/txt2man/archive/refs/tags/txt2man-1.7.1.tar.gz
Last updated2026-06-14T15:13:53+02:00
Pulseupdated
Dependenciesgawk
Bottleavailable (on all)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Nametxt2man
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
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%

txt2man 1.7.1-5

convert flat ASCII text to manpage format

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo apt install txt2man
  • Section: text
  • Architecture: all
  • 1 dependencies
  • 2 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: txt2man from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Nix95%

txt2man

nix profile install nixpkgs#txt2man
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tx/txt2man/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Ubuntu apt95%

txt2man 1.7.1-4

convert flat ASCII text to manpage format

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo apt install txt2man
  • Section: universe/text
  • Architecture: all
  • 1 dependencies
  • 2 optional deps
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: txt2man from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
apk95%

txt2man 1.7.1-r1

Convert flat ASCII text to man page format

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo apk add txt2man
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: txt2man
  • 1 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: txt2man from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
apk95%

txt2man-doc 1.7.1-r1

Convert flat ASCII text to man page format (documentation)

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo apk add txt2man-doc
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: txt2man
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: txt2man-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
dnf95%

txt2man 1.7.1-11.fc44

Convert flat ASCII text to man page format

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo dnf install txt2man
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Unspecified
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: txt2man
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: txt2man from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst
pacman95%

txt2man 1.7.1-4

Converts flat ASCII text to man page format

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo pacman -S txt2man
  • License: GPL
  • Architecture: any
  • 2 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: txt2man from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
zypper95%

txt2man 1.7.1-1.14

Convert Flat ASCII Text to man Page Format

https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man

sudo zypper install txt2man
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later
  • Category: Development/Tools/Doc Generators
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: txt2man
  • 2 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: txt2man from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
MacPorts95%

txt2man

sudo port install txt2man
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Txt2man
MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: textproc/txt2man/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.

Related tools

  • gawkRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.

Same workflow

  • go-md2manShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, man-pages.
  • scdocShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, man-pages.
  • txt2tagsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, text-conversion.
  • action-docsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation.
  • adr-toolsShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation.
  • adr-viewerShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation.

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.

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