---
name: "gpw"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "gpw"
version: "0.0.19940601-11+b1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/gpw"
---

# gpw(1)

program to generate pronounceable passwords

## NAME

gpw - program to generate pronounceable passwords

## SYNOPSIS

**gpw** \[*number\_of\_passwords* \[*length\_of\_passwords*\]*\]*

## DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents briefly the **gpw** command. This manual page was written for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution because the original program does not have a manual page.

**Gpw** is a program that generate pronounceable passwords of whatever length is desidered. It uses the statistics of three-letter combinations  (trigraphs) of the english system dictionary. It is based on the ideas  in Morrie Gasser's password generator for Multics, and Dan Edwards's  generator for CTSS.  FIPS Standard 181 describes a similar digraph-based  generator, derived from Gasser's.

## OPTIONS

This program accepts two optional numbers as command-line arguments. The first value is the number of password to generate, the second one is the length of the passwords required, up to 99.  Defaults are 10 and 8 respectively.

## NOTE

Password length should be choosen consistently with the encryption  standard used.\
 So, a value of eight is useful with DES encryption, and a longer value should be used with MD5 encryption.

## SEE ALSO

[**passwd**(1)](/passwd/1.md),**[pwgen(1)](/pwgen/1.md).**\

## AUTHOR

This program has been written by Tom Van Vleck \<thvv@multicians.org\>  in 1994. \

## CREDITS

Based on the ideas in Morrie Gasser's password generator for Multics, and Dan Edwards's generator for CTSS.  FIPS Standard 181 describes a similar digraph-based generator, derived from Gasser's.\
 This manual page was written by  Francesco P. Lovergine \<frankie@debian.org\>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others), who also  modified and packaged sources to port it under GNU/Linux.