Wikiman

December 25, 2024

Wikiman is an offline search engine designed for accessing manual pages, Arch Wiki, Gentoo Wiki, and other documentation without requiring an internet connection. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows for full-text searches, partial name matching for man pages, and fuzzy filtering to enhance search results[1][2].

Key Features

Offline Access: Users can browse documentation without being online, making it particularly useful for environments with limited connectivity.
Search Capabilities: Utilizes full-text search and fuzzy matching to help users find relevant information even if they are unsure of exact keywords[1][4].
Extensibility: Users can add custom sources and configure settings through user-defined configuration files located in ~/.config/wikiman/ or /etc/wikiman.conf[2][3].

Installation

Wikiman can be installed on various Linux distributions: – Arch Linux: Install via the package manager:

  pacman -S wikiman

Ubuntu/Debian: Download the .deb package and install: bash sudo apt install ./wikiman*.deb
Fedora/openSUSE: Use the respective package managers to install the .rpm package[1][3].

Usage

Once installed, Wikiman can be launched from the terminal. Users can initiate a search by simply entering keywords related to their query. The command-line options allow for various functionalities such as specifying languages or sources for the search[2][4].

Wikiman is particularly beneficial for developers and system administrators who frequently consult documentation while working in terminal environments. Its ability to function offline makes it a valuable tool for efficient information retrieval.

Citations: [1] https://github.com/filiparag/wikiman [2] https://man.archlinux.org/man/extra/wikiman/wikiman.1.en [3] https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/any/wikiman/ [4] https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/ikv6do/wikiman_terminalbased_interactive_offline_search/ [5] https://archlinuxarm.org/packages/aarch64/wikiman [6] https://www.wikiapp.it/wikisite/en/products/wikiman/ [7] https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/filiparag-wikiman/30827