May 1, 2026
Package search or digital archaeology?
whohas – Command-line utility for cross-distro, cross-repository package search
This old app hunts software across systems, but commenters are fighting over whether it’s clever or fossilized
TLDR: whohas is a tool for checking which systems offer a piece of software, but the real buzz is that commenters think it feels badly dated. Some still like the idea, while others say newer tools already do the job better — and made sure to say it with extra sass.
A tiny command-line tool called whohas set out to answer a surprisingly relatable question: where can I find this app? It searches package lists across a long lineup of operating systems and software collections, letting maintainers and curious users compare what’s available where. In plain English, it’s a one-stop lookup tool for people juggling software across different Linux families, BSD systems, and even things like MacPorts and Cygwin. Cute idea, right? Well, the comments immediately turned into a roast session.
The loudest reaction was basically: nice concept, ancient vibes. One commenter took one look at the fact it’s written in Perl and then delivered the killer follow-up: the last release was ages ago and the website addresses are hardcoded into a single script. Ouch. Another user called it "abandoned, but forkable", which is open-source-speak for “nobody’s driving this car, but hey, the keys are still in it.” That sparked the mini-drama: is this a dead relic, or an underrated utility begging for a reboot?
Then came the tool wars. One camp said, essentially, "who needs this when Nixpkgs already has it covered?" Another wished for a modern command-line version of Repology, while someone else lamented that Homebrew for Linux keeps getting ignored in these package-search conversations. The comedy peak? A commenter opening with "Who has? Nixpkgs has. :)" — the kind of smug one-liner that tells you everything about internet software tribalism in six words.
Key Points
- •whohas is a Perl-based command-line utility for searching package lists across multiple distributions and repositories.
- •The article says the tool supports Arch, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Mageia, Mandriva, openSUSE, Slackware, Source Mage, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Fink, MacPorts, and Cygwin.
- •whohas was designed to help package maintainers find package definitions from other distributions, but it can also be used by regular users to check package availability.
- •The tool can show package versions across distributions, and release-specific comparison is implemented only for Debian.
- •The article demonstrates using grep with whohas output to narrow searches by exact package name or by distribution, and includes sample output for the package gaim.