# Installer help2man avec Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Consultez les chemins d'installation, exécutables, métadonnées et notes de sécurité de help2man pour les workflows d'agents IA.

## installation

```sh
sudo av install brew:help2man
```

Commandes d'installation supplémentaires:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install help2man
```

  Preuve: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install help2man
```

  Preuve: MacPorts ports tree: textproc/help2man/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add help2man
```

  Preuve: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: help2man from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install help2man
```

  Preuve: Debian stable package indexes: help2man from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install help2man
```

  Preuve: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: help2man from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#help2man
```

  Preuve: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/he/help2man/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S help2man
```

  Preuve: Arch Linux sync databases: help2man from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install help2man
```

  Preuve: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: help2man from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

## Faits du paquet

- **Clé du paquet:** brew:help2man
- **Gestionnaire de paquets:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.49.3
- **Résumé source:** Automatically generate simple man pages
- **Page d'accueil:** <https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/>
- **Dernière mise à jour:** 2026-06-22T14:03:42-07:00
- **Généré:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## exécutables

- help2man (alias)

## Comportement d'installation

- Bouteille: non disponible

## Version et fraîcheur

- page générée: 2026-08-03
- version du gestionnaire: 1.49.3
## Historique du projet et usages

GNU help2man generates simple manual pages from a program's `--help` and `--version` output. It exists for the Unix packaging gap where a program has useful command-line help or Texinfo documentation, but distributors and users still expect a traditional section-1 man page.

### Historique du projet

help2man was written by Brendan O'Dea. The 1.021 README from April 2000 describes the tool as a script for creating simple man pages from help and version output, and the 1.022 NEWS entry in July 2000 says help2man became an official GNU program.

The GNU README explains the historical reason for the tool: much GNU documentation lived in Info format, while man pages remained expected in Unix environments. help2man provided a way to generate placeholder or useful man pages from the executable itself rather than maintaining a separate roff document by hand.

Over time the project added options for source/manual headers, localized manual pages, gettext support, Translation Project integration, GPLv3 licensing, reproducible-build date handling through `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH`, and support for modern version-string patterns.

### Historique d'adoption

help2man became common in GNU and distro build systems because it solved a mundane packaging requirement with little maintenance burden. It is packaged across Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, MacPorts, Nix, and other systems, which matches its role as a build-time documentation utility rather than an end-user application.

Its adoption is strongly tied to Autotools-era release culture: generated tarballs often include man pages, while maintainers can derive them from command output during release preparation or packaging.

### Modes d'utilisation

The core command is `help2man [OPTION]... EXECUTABLE`; help2man runs the target program's help and version options, parses the output, and emits a manual page. Options customize the NAME paragraph, section, source, manual title, include snippets, locale, and the exact help/version flags.

The tool works best for commands whose `--help` output follows GNU-style conventions. For richer pages, maintainers add include files or post-process generated sections rather than writing the whole man page manually.

### Pourquoi les passionnés de paquets s'y intéressent

help2man is a classic package-maintainer tool: it turns CLI self-description into a distro-friendly artifact. That makes it important in build recipes, release scripts, and reproducible packaging, even though users rarely invoke it directly after installation.

It also reflects a GNU documentation compromise. Texinfo may be the canonical manual format for many GNU tools, but package managers, lint tools, and Unix users still reward having a man page installed in the expected location.

### Chronologie

- 2000: help2man 1.021 appeared on GNU FTP, and 1.022 became an official GNU program.
- 2001: Options were added for source/manual headers and nonstandard help/version flags.
- 2003: Localized manual-page support was added.
- 2009: The project updated to GPLv3 and expanded translation support.
- 2015: `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH` support was added for reproducible generated pages.
- 2022: Version 1.49 documented continued maintenance of parsing, translation, and encoding behavior.

### Related projects

- GNU Texinfo is the documentation ecosystem help2man complements.
- Autoconf, Automake, and other GNU build tools commonly coexist with help2man in release toolchains.
- Downstream package managers use help2man as a build-time dependency when upstream projects generate man pages.

### Sources

- <https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/help2man/>
- <https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/help2man/help2man-1.021.tar.gz>
- <https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/help2man/help2man-1.49.3.tar.xz>
- <https://salsa.debian.org/bod/help2man>
- <https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/>


## Notes de sécurité

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Risque Geiger:** vert / faible
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Autres enregistrements de gestionnaires de paquets

- Debian apt - help2man - 1.49.3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: help2man from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Automatic manpage generator
- Nix - help2man: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/he/help2man/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - help2man - 1.49.3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: help2man from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Automatic manpage generator
- apk - help2man - 1.49.3-r2: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: help2man from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Create simple man pages from --help output | https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man
- apk - help2man-doc - 1.49.3-r2: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: help2man-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Create simple man pages from --help output (documentation) | https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man
- dnf - help2man - 1.49.3-10.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: help2man from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Create simple man pages from --help output | https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/
- pacman - help2man - 1.49.3-2: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: help2man from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Conversion tool to create man files | https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/
- zypper - help2man - 1.49.3-1.14: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: help2man from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Script for generating man pages from --help output | https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/
- zypper - help2man-lang - 1.49.3-1.14: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: help2man-lang from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Translations for package help2man | https://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/
- MacPorts - help2man: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: textproc/help2man/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/help2man.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/help2man.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph