# Install dbacl with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

Digramic Bayesian classifier. Version 1.14.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#dbacl.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:dbacl
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install dbacl
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install dbacl
```

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

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#dbacl
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:dbacl
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.14.1
- **Source summary:** Digramic Bayesian classifier
- **Homepage:** <https://dbacl.sourceforge.net/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bayesol (alias)
- dbacl (alias)
- hmine (alias)
- hypex (alias)
- mailcross (alias)
- mailfoot (alias)
- mailinspect (alias)
- mailtoe (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.14.1
## Project history and usage

dbacl is a collection of lightweight Unix and POSIX utilities for Bayesian text classification. Its most familiar package-manager use is mail filtering, but the official documentation presents it as a general text-classification toolkit that can be scripted for many document-sorting tasks.

### Project history

The SourceForge project metadata records dbacl from January 2003, and the project homepage describes the core utility plus companion tools such as bayesol, mailcross, mailtoe, mailfoot, and mailinspect. The documentation emphasizes digramic Bayesian classification and decision rules based on misclassification costs.

### Adoption history

dbacl belongs to the early-2000s wave of command-line spam and text filters that could be composed with mail delivery agents and shell scripts. Its documentation includes tutorials for junk mail filtering, cross-validation, procmail integration, and comparisons with other classifiers, which made it fit the Unix mail-filtering culture of the period.

### How it is used

Users train categories from example text, classify new input, and combine dbacl with companion utilities when they need optimal classification rules or mail-filter evaluation. The manual-page index documents the small-tool style: one command for posterior probabilities, one for decision rules, and other commands for mailbox inspection and validation.

### Why package nerds care

dbacl is interesting as a compact research-adjacent CLI package: it exposes Bayesian classification as ordinary Unix commands instead of a library or service. For package nerds, it is a reminder of when spam filtering, procmail recipes, and statistical text processing were common reasons to install small C command-line tools.

### Timeline

- 2003: SourceForge project metadata records the project creation date.
- 2000s: Official docs cover spam filtering, shell integration, and manual pages for the dbacl utility family.
- Present: SourceForge hosts the project page and an official Git browser.

### Related projects

- The official related-projects page links dbacl to spam-filtering software, a Bayesian RSS aggregator, and the TREC Spam Filter Evaluation Tool Kit.

### Sources

- <https://sourceforge.net/rest/p/dbacl>
- <https://dbacl.sourceforge.net/>
- <https://dbacl.sourceforge.net/contents.html>
- <https://dbacl.sourceforge.net/man.html>
- <https://dbacl.sourceforge.net/related.html>
- <https://sourceforge.net/p/dbacl/git>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - dbacl: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/db/dbacl/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- MacPorts - dbacl: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: textproc/dbacl/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/dbacl.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/dbacl.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