Fine Free File Command

This is the home page for the open source implementation of the file(1) command that ships with every free operating system (OpenBSD, Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, etc.
Homepage:	http://www.darwinsys.com/file/
Function:	File Format Identification

Description

This is the home page for the open source implementation of the file(1) command that ships with every free operating system (OpenBSD, Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD, etc.) and has been ported to most systems where people use free software (including OS/2, DOS, MS Windows, etc.).

User Experiences

• [2019-11-16] Linux and Unix file command tutorial with examples

Development Activity

All development activity is visible on GitHub: https://github.com/file/file/commits

Release Feed

Below the last 3 release feeds:

2026-02-27 14:58:13

[tag:github.com,2008:Repository/1303130/FILE5_47 FILE5_47]

by zoulasc

2024-11-27 15:37:46

[tag:github.com,2008:Repository/1303130/FILE5_46 FILE5_46]

by zoulasc

2023-07-27 19:46:14

[tag:github.com,2008:Repository/1303130/FILE5_45 FILE5_45]

by zoulasc

Activity Feed

Below the last 5 commits:

2026-03-04 10:26:12

[tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/f8f8745ccc0fac38561ba7a168c7b5638135bcec convert tab to spaces]

by zoulasc https://github.com/zoulasc

2026-03-03 14:55:15

[tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/f70443485d6754b8e4ecb82dae1ec58102ab9dd5 Use self._close Vincent Mihalkovic]

by zoulasc https://github.com/zoulasc

2026-02-28 16:15:59

[tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/0a21e4bd522ac87c4c9fb8dd0f972efec2e8f7a1 Simplify a bit argument passing.]

by zoulasc https://github.com/zoulasc

2026-02-28 16:14:12

[tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/5a38acfbbdb62b87d6face0628607f44af5cdb34 fix c++ compilation]

by zoulasc https://github.com/zoulasc

2026-02-27 14:52:30

[tag:github.com,2008:Grit::Commit/fd2e9a354b29d2602f4d450ac4061504352989ab fix typo (Werner Fink)]

by zoulasc https://github.com/zoulasc

Informative references

• syntax of the File magic numbers