# Install gplcver with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts

Pragmatic C Software GPL Cver 2001. Version 2.12a via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install gplcver.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:gplcver
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install gplcver
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install gplcver
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: science/gplcver/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install gplcver
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: gplcver from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:gplcver
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.12a
- **Source summary:** Pragmatic C Software GPL Cver 2001
- **Homepage:** <https://gplcver.sourceforge.net/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- cver (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.12a
## Project history and usage

GPL Cver is the GPL-distributed edition of Pragmatic C Software's Cver Verilog simulator. SourceForge describes it as an interpreted Verilog simulator with a feature set and performance similar to Verilog-XL, implementing IEEE 1364-1995 features, some Verilog-2001 features, and Verilog PLI interfaces.

### Project history

The project README states that GPL Cver is a copyrighted Pragmatic C Software work distributed under the GNU General Public License, and that it represents an older Cver line while a newer commercial Cver was offered by Pragmatic C Software.

The SourceForge code tree shows an initial import of cver-2.12a on Apr 27, 2009. The same tree contains top-level documentation, PLI sources, tests, Verilog sources, and release notes, preserving the package as a source-distributed EDA tool.

### Adoption history

GPL Cver has a narrow but durable package footprint: the input package-manager facts list Homebrew, Debian, MacPorts, and Ubuntu packages. Homebrew describes it as 'Pragmatic C Software GPL Cver 2001' and packages version 2.12a.

Its adoption is mostly historical and specialist: users who need an open Verilog simulator with PLI support can install it from Unix package managers, but it sits beside better-known open-source Verilog tools rather than acting as a general developer utility.

### How it is used

Users run the cver executable against Verilog files to simulate designs. The upstream README points users to the INSTALL file for source builds and to the doc directory for Cver documentation.

The release also includes vcddiff, a specialized diff-like utility for Verilog VCD waveform files, which makes the package more useful for regression and simulation-output comparison workflows.

### Why package nerds care

GPL Cver is interesting to package maintainers because it preserves a formerly commercial-style Verilog simulator in a redistributable GPL form. That makes it a useful historical EDA package even when install counts are small.

Its package shape is old-school Unix: source tree, docs directory, prebuilt makefiles for older Unix-like platforms, and a single simulator executable.

### Timeline

- 2001: Homebrew metadata identifies the package as Pragmatic C Software GPL Cver 2001.
- 2009: SourceForge project registration and cver-2.12a source import occurred in April 2009.
- 2024: SourceForge activity records a maintenance update touching the source tree.

### Related projects

- Icarus Verilog and VeriWell appear as related Verilog simulator projects in SourceForge's project context.
- Verilog-XL is the commercial simulator lineage used as a comparison point in the project description.
- vcddiff ships with GPL Cver as a related utility for comparing Verilog VCD files.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/gplcver>
- <https://sourceforge.net/p/gplcver/code/ci/master/tree/>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/gplcver/>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/gplcver/files/gplcver/>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - gplcver - 2.12a-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: gplcver from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Verilog simulator | https://sourceforge.net/projects/gplcver/
- Ubuntu apt - gplcver - 2.12a-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: gplcver from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Verilog simulator
- MacPorts - gplcver: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: science/gplcver/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/gplcver.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/gplcver.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph