# 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 ```sh sudo av install brew:txt2man ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install txt2man ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install txt2man ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: textproc/txt2man/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add txt2man ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: txt2man from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install txt2man ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: txt2man from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install txt2man ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: txt2man 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#txt2man ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tx/txt2man/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S txt2man ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: txt2man from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install txt2man ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: txt2man from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:txt2man - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.7.1 - **Source summary:** Converts flat ASCII text to man page format - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-14T15:13:53+02:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - bookman (cli) - src2man (cli) - txt2man (cli) - bookman (alias) - src2man (alias) - txt2man (alias) ## Dependencies - gawk ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.7.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-14 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - Upstream latest detected: txt2man-1.7.1 (current) ## 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. ### Sources - - - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## 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:** txt2man - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - txt2man - 1.7.1-5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: txt2man from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | convert flat ASCII text to manpage format | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - Nix - txt2man: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tx/txt2man/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - txt2man - 1.7.1-4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: txt2man from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | convert flat ASCII text to manpage format | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - apk - txt2man - 1.7.1-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: txt2man from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Convert flat ASCII text to man page format | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - apk - txt2man-doc - 1.7.1-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: txt2man-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Convert flat ASCII text to man page format (documentation) | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - dnf - txt2man - 1.7.1-11.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: txt2man from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Convert flat ASCII text to man page format | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - pacman - txt2man - 1.7.1-4: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: txt2man from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Converts flat ASCII text to man page format | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - zypper - txt2man - 1.7.1-1.14: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: txt2man from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Convert Flat ASCII Text to man Page Format | https://github.com/mvertes/txt2man - MacPorts - txt2man: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: textproc/txt2man/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [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. - [gawk](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gawk/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [go-md2man](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/go-md2man/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, man-pages. - [scdoc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/scdoc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, man-pages. - [txt2tags](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/txt2tags/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, documentation, text-conversion. - [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. - [tofrodos](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tofrodos/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, conversion, converts, developer, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/txt2man.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/txt2man.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