brew / rank 5904

Install plplot with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, apt

Cross-platform software package for creating scientific plots. Version 5.15.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-09-21. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install libcsirocsa0.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install plplot

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install plplot

MacPorts ports tree · science/plplot/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add plplot

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · plplot · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install plplot

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · plplot · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#plplot

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/pl/plplot/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install libcsirocsa0

Debian stable package indexes · libcsirocsa0 · source: deb.debian.org

overview

Package summary

Cross-platform software package for creating scientific plots

Project links

Commands and aliases

pltek

history

Project history and usage

PLplot is a cross-platform scientific plotting library with numerous programming-language bindings and output drivers for interactive displays and publication-oriented file formats.

Project history

The project's documentation copyright record reaches back to 1994 and names Maurice J. LeBrun and Geoffrey Furnish among its early contributors. Later documentation credits show sustained development by a larger international group through the 2000s and 2010s.

PLplot historically supported C and Fortran, then expanded into C++, Tcl, Python, and other language interfaces. The project later standardized its cross-platform build around CMake and maintained its source, releases, issue tracking, and wiki through SourceForge.

Adoption history

PLplot's portability and language bindings broadened it beyond a single C plotting API. Official project material documents interfaces for languages including C, C++, Fortran, Python, Tcl/Tk, OCaml, Ada, D, and Perl, plus multiple display and file drivers.

The official download page records binary packaging by major Linux distributions and macOS package systems, while Windows users have historically built it from source. This reflects its long-standing role as an embeddable scientific library rather than a single desktop application.

How it is used

Developers embed PLplot through a supported language binding, select an output device or interactive driver, and call its plotting API to construct scientific charts.

Packagers and source builders use CMake options to enable the desired compilers, bindings, GUI stacks, drivers, examples, tests, and generated documentation.

Why package nerds care

PLplot is a classic compiled scientific-library package with a wide dependency and feature surface: CMake options select language bindings, GUI toolkits, output drivers, and documentation components.

Its many bindings and drivers make packaging choices visible to downstream users. A distribution may expose only part of PLplot's potential depending on which compilers and optional graphics libraries were enabled.

Timeline

1994: The official documentation's copyright history begins with early PLplot authors.
2000s: The project expanded its documentation and language-binding work across a larger contributor group.
2010s: CMake-based cross-platform builds, SourceForge-hosted Git development, and broad language and driver coverage defined the modern project.

Related projects

PLplot overlaps with gnuplot as a scientific-plotting option, but PLplot is primarily an application library exposed through many language bindings.
GNU Plotutils' libplot is another C/C++ plotting library, with a stronger connection to classic Unix graph, plot, and spline filters.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 9 platform targets.
Installs with 7 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 2 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`pltek`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-11-04

manager version5.15.0

manager updated2026-09-21

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

Package key	brew:plplot
Version	5.15.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/plplot
Homepage	https://plplot.sourceforge.net/
Upstream docs	https://plplot.sourceforge.net/
License	LGPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause AND HPND AND LicenseRef-Homebrew-cannot-represent
Source archive	https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/plplot/plplot/5.15.0%20Source/plplot-5.15.0.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-09-21T19:28:17-04:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	cairo, freetype, gcc, gettext, glib, harfbuzz, pango
Build dependencies	cmake, pkgconf
Bottle	available (on arm64_golden_gate, arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	plplot
Version Scheme	0
Revision	4
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable