# Install soapysdr with Homebrew, Nix, pacman, apt, dnf, MacPorts Vendor and platform neutral SDR support library. Version 0.8.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install libsoapysdr-dev. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:soapysdr ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install soapysdr ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install SoapySDR ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: science/SoapySDR/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#soapysdr ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/so/soapysdr/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S soapysdr ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: soapysdr from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install libsoapysdr-dev ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: libsoapysdr-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install SoapySDR ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: SoapySDR from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:soapysdr - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 0.8.1 - **Source summary:** Vendor and platform neutral SDR support library - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - SoapySDRUtil (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 0.8.1 ## Project history and usage SoapySDR is a vendor-neutral, platform-independent runtime and API for software-defined radio hardware. It gives applications, drivers, and package managers a shared abstraction so SDR tools do not need to hard-code every device vendor's native library. ### Project history The SoapySDR changelog identifies January 31, 2015 as the first public release. The project quickly added module paths, streaming APIs, Python bindings, utility probing, logging, ABI-aware module installation, and C/Python/C++ API refinements through the 0.2 to 0.5 series. The official wiki explains the core design: SoapySDR is a generalized API and runtime library for interfacing with SDR devices, with runtime-loadable modules for vendor hardware, bindings for environments such as GNU Radio and Pothos, and a command-line utility for device probing. ### Adoption history The official wiki states that most off-the-shelf SDR hardware platforms are supported by SoapySDR and that many open source applications rely on it for hardware integration. The supplied package-manager facts show packaging across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, and Arch, matching its role as shared SDR infrastructure. ### How it is used Users encounter SoapySDR both as a library and through SoapySDRUtil, which the changelog and wiki describe for probing devices, listing modules, and exercising streaming/rate tests. Application developers use the client API, while hardware support is delivered through installable modules. ### Why package nerds care Package nerds care about SoapySDR because it is an ABI and plugin packaging problem as much as a library. Distributions need the core library, versioned module directories, optional language bindings, and separate hardware-driver modules to agree so applications can discover radios at runtime. ### Timeline - 2015: First public release 0.1.0. - 2015: 0.2.0 added SOAPY_SDR_PLUGIN_PATH and direct buffer streaming APIs. - 2015: 0.4.0 added SoapySDRUtil --probe and more query APIs. - 2016: 0.5.1 added ABI-specific modules directories. - 2018: 0.7.0 added parallel device factory support and converter registry APIs. - 2021: 0.8.0 modernized CMake config generation and added more API helpers. ### Related projects - The official wiki links SoapySDR to Pothos, GNU Radio, GrOsmoSDR, SoapyUHD, SoapyRemote, and command-line SDR tools such as Rx Tools, showing its role as a hub in the open SDR stack. ### Sources - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes library-like package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - library-like package without higher-risk signals ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - libsoapysdr-dev - 0.8.1-5+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libsoapysdr-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | SoapySDR library development files | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Debian apt - libsoapysdr-doc - 0.8.1-5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libsoapysdr-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | SoapySDR library development documentation | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Debian apt - libsoapysdr0.8 - 0.8.1-5+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libsoapysdr0.8 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | software defined radio interface library | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Debian apt - python3-soapysdr - 0.8.1-5+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: python3-soapysdr from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | SoapySDR Python 3 bindings | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Debian apt - soapysdr-module-all - 0.8.1-5+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: soapysdr-module-all from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | All device support for default version of SoapySDR (metapackage) | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Debian apt - soapysdr-tools - 0.8.1-5+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: soapysdr-tools from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | software defined radio interface library tools | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Debian apt - soapysdr0.8-module-all - 0.8.1-5+b2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: soapysdr0.8-module-all from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | All device support for SoapySDR (metapackage) | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Nix - soapysdr: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/so/soapysdr/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - libsoapysdr-dev - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libsoapysdr-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | SoapySDR library development files | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Ubuntu apt - libsoapysdr-doc - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libsoapysdr-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | SoapySDR library development documentation | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Ubuntu apt - libsoapysdr0.8 - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libsoapysdr0.8 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | software defined radio interface library | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Ubuntu apt - python3-soapysdr - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: python3-soapysdr from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | SoapySDR Python 3 bindings | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Ubuntu apt - soapysdr-module-all - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: soapysdr-module-all from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | All device support for default version of SoapySDR (metapackage) | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Ubuntu apt - soapysdr-tools - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: soapysdr-tools from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | software defined radio interface library tools | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - Ubuntu apt - soapysdr0.8-module-all - 0.8.1-4build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: soapysdr0.8-module-all from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | All device support for SoapySDR (metapackage) | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki - dnf - SoapySDR - 0.8.1-25.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: SoapySDR from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | A Vendor Neutral and Platform Independent SDR Support Library | https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/soapysdr.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/soapysdr.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