debman

Read a man page for a command that is provided by a specified [p]ackage

$ debman -p [package] [command]

$ debman -p [package]=[version] [command]

$ debman -f [path/to/file.deb] [command]

debman [options] [section] package

-f, --file
    Treat package argument as a .deb filename

-p, --path
    Search for package in /var/cache/apt/archives/

-L LOCALE, --locale=LOCALE
    Use man locale LOCALE (default: C)

-l, --list
    List available manual pages in the package

-d, --debug
    Enable debugging output

-h, --help
    Display help summary

-V, --version
    Show version and copyright info

debman is a command-line utility from the Debian devscripts package designed to extract and display manual pages (man pages) directly from Debian binary packages (.deb files). It works seamlessly with both installed packages (via dpkg) and uninstalled ones found in standard cache directories like /var/cache/apt/archives/.

This tool is invaluable for Debian package maintainers, developers, and users who need to review documentation without fully installing a package, saving time and avoiding dependency issues. For example, to view the man page for a package like hello, simply run debman hello; it automatically locates the package, extracts the relevant man page (defaulting to section 1 if unspecified), and pipes it to the man viewer.

debman supports specifying man sections (e.g., debman 8 apache2 for admin pages), listing available pages with -l, or handling local .deb files. It respects man locales and provides debugging for troubleshooting. Primarily for Debian-based systems (Ubuntu, Mint), it enhances workflow in package inspection and reverse-engineering scenarios.

Requires devscripts package; Debian/Ubuntu-focused; may fail if package lacks man pages or cache is empty.

debman hello
debman 8 apache2
debman -f /path/to/package.deb
debman -l hello

Prioritizes installed packages; use -p for apt cache; supports compressed man pages.

Part of Debian devscripts since early 2000s; developed by Debian maintainers for efficient package documentation access without installation.

man(1), dpkg(1), apt-cache(8), devscripts(1)