# Install deark with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

File conversion utility for older formats. Version 1.7.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-08-02. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#deark.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:deark
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install deark
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install deark
```

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

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#deark
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:deark
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.7.3
- **Source summary:** File conversion utility for older formats
- **Homepage:** <https://entropymine.com/deark/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-08-02T12:51:36+01:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- deark (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.7.3
## Project history and usage

Deark is a portable C command-line utility for decoding, converting, inspecting, and extracting data from older or uncommon file formats. It is especially visible in package collections because it covers a large spread of legacy graphics, archive, font, executable, metadata, and document formats without trying to become a general archive manager.

### Project history

Jason Summers' README credits Deark as written by Jason Summers over 2014-2026, and the GitHub repository metadata records public creation in April 2014. The project's own technical notes explain that it grew from many one-off file-format decoders into one place for rescuing data from under-served formats and preserving knowledge about file structures.

### Adoption history

Deark's homepage publishes source downloads and Windows binaries, while the repository and package-manager metadata make it available to Unix-like users through package systems such as Homebrew, MacPorts, and Nix. Its adoption is less about a network effect and more about being a compact specialist tool for file-format archaeology.

### How it is used

Typical use is to point `deark` at a file and let it autodetect a module, or select a module explicitly when the format is ambiguous. The README recommends ZIP output for archive-like formats so member filenames and paths can be retained, and the technical documentation emphasizes the `-d` inspection mode for learning about file contents and metadata.

### Why package nerds care

Deark is the sort of utility package that earns its keep when a user finds a strange old asset in a source tree, disk image, or archive. Its value is breadth, conservative dependencies, and a preservation-minded approach to formats that are too obscure for everyday desktop apps.

### Timeline

- 2014: GitHub repository created for Deark.
- 2016: README copyright line begins the current Deark copyright span and notes later MIT-style licensing from the 1.4.x series.
- 2026: 1.7.3 listed on the official homepage as the current download.

### Related projects

- Deark overlaps with format-specific extractors, archive tools, image converters, and digital-preservation utilities. The related deark-extras repository contains ancillary files for Deark development.

### Sources

- <https://entropymine.com/deark>
- <https://github.com/jsummers/deark/blob/master/readme.md>
- <https://github.com/jsummers/deark/blob/master/technical.md>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/jsummers/deark>


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