# Install brag with Homebrew, apt

Download and assemble multipart binaries from newsgroups. Version 1.4.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install brag.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:brag
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install brag
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install brag
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:brag
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.4.3
- **Source summary:** Download and assemble multipart binaries from newsgroups
- **Homepage:** <https://brag.sourceforge.net/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:02:55-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- brag (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.4.3
## Project history and usage

Brag is a command-line Usenet binary downloader. It collects multipart binary attachments from NNTP newsgroups, assembles them, and was designed to be robust enough for unattended cron jobs.

### Project history

Brag is credited in its README to author Akos Polster and maintained at SourceForge. The project documentation reflects the early-2000s Usenet binary era, including support for uuencode, MIME base64, yEnc, authentication, filters, and parallel NNTP connections.

The SourceForge file feed shows Brag releases at least from version 1.1.0 in October 2000 through version 1.4.3 in March 2004. The acknowledgements list several contributors for NNTP support, yEnc support, performance work, Mac OS X fixes, Debian fixes, and user reports.

### Adoption history

Brag's adoption is small but historically package-manager-shaped: the input package facts record Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu packages. Its man page and README also assume Unix home-directory state under ~/.brag and cron-based operation, matching the packaging conventions of the period.

Its niche narrowed as web-based binary distribution, dedicated NZB clients, and private indexers changed Usenet workflows, but Brag remains a compact example of a classic NNTP automation tool.

### How it is used

The man page describes running brag against an NNTP server and newsgroup, optionally with authentication, accept/reject subject patterns, parallel connection count, output directory, and cross-server or cross-newsgroup part combining.

State is stored under ~/.brag, with unfinished and finished directories per server and group. Passwords can be placed in ~/.brag/<server>/passwd, while accept and reject pattern files live below the server and group directory.

### Why package nerds care

Brag matters to package historians as a surviving Homebrew formula for an older Unix networking workflow: scripted Usenet binary retrieval over NNTP. It is less a mainstream modern tool than a preserved slice of early broadband-era command-line culture.

It is also a reminder that package managers carry long tails of specialized tools whose primary upstreams live on SourceForge rather than GitHub.

### Timeline

- 2000-10: SourceForge lists a Brag 1.1.0 RPM release.
- 2002-02: SourceForge lists Brag 1.2.0 source and RPM releases.
- 2003-11: SourceForge lists Brag 1.4.0 and 1.4.1 releases.
- 2004-03: SourceForge lists Brag 1.4.3 source and RPM releases.

### Related projects

- NNTP news servers are the network service Brag automates against.
- Usenet binary tools and later NZB clients occupy the same broad problem space of fetching multipart posts.
- Debian packaging is mentioned in the README acknowledgements and also appears in the input package facts.

### Sources

- <https://brag.sourceforge.net/README>
- <https://brag.sourceforge.net/brag.1.html>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/brag/rss?path=/brag>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: ~/.brag/<server>/<group>/accept, ~/.brag/<server>/<group>/reject

## Credential files

- Unix: ~/.brag/<server>/passwd
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - brag - 1.4.1-2.3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: brag from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Downloads and assembles multipart Usenet binaries | http://brag.sourceforge.net
- Ubuntu apt - brag - 1.4.1-2.3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: brag from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Downloads and assembles multipart Usenet binaries | http://brag.sourceforge.net


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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