brew

Install gnuradio with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

SDK for signal processing blocks to implement software radios. Version 3.10.12.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install gnuradio

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install gnuradio

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

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add gnuradio

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

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install gnuradio

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

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install gnuradio

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

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#gnuradio

nixpkgs package indexes · gnuradio · source: raw.githubusercontent.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S gnuradio

Arch Linux sync databases · gnuradio · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install gnuradio

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · gnuradio · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

SDK for signal processing blocks to implement software radios

Project links

Commands and aliases

gnuradio-companion
gnuradio-config-info
gr_filter_design
gr_modtool
gr_plot
gr_plot_const
gr_plot_fft
gr_plot_iq
gr_plot_psd
gr_plot_qt
gr_read_file_metadata
grcc
polar_channel_construction
uhd_fft
uhd_rx_cfile
uhd_rx_nogui
uhd_siggen
uhd_siggen_gui

history

Project history and usage

GNU Radio is a GNU Project software-defined radio framework that gives signal-processing practitioners a reusable runtime, block library, and graphical flowgraph environment. In package ecosystems it represents the heavy end of scientific tooling: a desktop-adjacent SDR workbench, a Python and C++ development platform, and a bridge from commodity computers to radio hardware.

Project history

GNU Radio grew from early-2000s work to make software radio practical on general-purpose computers. Project material describes a framework for building software radios out of signal-processing blocks, while community history ties its early development to Eric Blossom, John Gilmore, and the first USRP hardware from Ettus Research. The project later developed around a Python-driven runtime, C++ performance blocks, GNU Radio Companion, out-of-tree modules, and hardware integrations rather than a single end-user radio application.

The project evolved into a foundation for related infrastructure such as VOLK, reusable block collections, and community extension modules. Its organizational home also matured: the GNU Radio project formed a foundation and later announced a new home at the SETI Institute, reflecting its role as community infrastructure for radio science, education, and experimentation.

Adoption history

GNU Radio became significant because it let researchers, radio amateurs, hardware vendors, and educators share signal-processing designs as flowgraphs and reusable blocks. Its adoption followed the rise of affordable SDR hardware, especially USRP-family devices, and it became common in academic labs, wireless prototyping, spectrum experiments, satellite work, and security research.

The ecosystem around GNU Radio includes conferences, tutorials, out-of-tree modules, and companion projects such as CGRAN. That ecosystem matters to package maintainers because installing GNU Radio often means delivering a coordinated stack of DSP libraries, Python bindings, GUI dependencies, hardware drivers, and examples.

How it is used

Practitioners use GNU Radio to construct flowgraphs that connect sources, filters, modulators, demodulators, visualizers, and sinks. A flowgraph may run entirely in simulation, process captured IQ files, or talk to SDR hardware through drivers such as UHD.

Developers use GNU Radio Companion for visual design, Python for orchestration, C++ for performance-sensitive blocks, and gr_modtool to build out-of-tree modules. The command-line tools in package builds are also used for inspecting installs, compiling flowgraphs, plotting samples, and testing radio chains.

Why package nerds care

GNU Radio is a package-manager stress test: it spans compiled DSP code, Python packaging, Qt GUI pieces, hardware-driver interfaces, and optional acceleration libraries. For users, a working package turns a laptop into an SDR lab without hand-building the whole scientific stack.

Timeline

2001: Early GNU Radio development began around general-purpose software radio experiments.
2004: USRP hardware helped make GNU Radio useful with affordable external RF front ends.
2011: GNU Radio Conference began as a recurring community venue.
2020: GNU Radio announced a foundation home at the SETI Institute.

Related projects

USRP and UHD provide a common hardware path for GNU Radio users.
VOLK supplies vector-optimized kernels used by GNU Radio blocks.
CGRAN and out-of-tree modules extend the block ecosystem.

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 6 platform targets.
Installs with 25 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 4 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
`gnuradio-companion`	cli	global executable
`gnuradio-config-info`	cli	global executable
`gr_filter_design`	cli	global executable
`gr_modtool`	cli	global executable
`gr_plot`	cli	global executable
`gr_plot_const`	cli	global executable
`gr_plot_fft`	cli	global executable
`gr_plot_iq`	cli	global executable
`gr_plot_psd`	cli	global executable
`gr_plot_qt`	cli	global executable
`gr_read_file_metadata`	cli	global executable
`grcc`	cli	global executable
`polar_channel_construction`	cli	global executable
`uhd_fft`	cli	global executable
`uhd_rx_cfile`	cli	global executable
`uhd_rx_nogui`	cli	global executable
`uhd_siggen`	cli	global executable
`uhd_siggen_gui`	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 generated2026-07-08

manager version3.10.12.0

manager updated2026-06-25

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio

infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradionone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:gnuradio
Version	3.10.12.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/gnuradio
Homepage	https://www.gnuradio.org/
Repository	https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio
Upstream docs	https://wiki.gnuradio.org/index.php/Main_Page
License	GPL-3.0-or-later
Source archive	https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio/archive/refs/tags/v3.10.12.0.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-25T13:37:44+02:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	adwaita-icon-theme, boost, cppzmq, fftw, fmt, gmp, gsl, gtk+3, jack, libsndfile, libyaml, numpy, portaudio, pygobject3, pyqt@5, python@3.14, qt@5, qwt-qt5, rpds-py, soapyrtlsdr, soapysdr, spdlog, uhd, volk, zeromq
Build dependencies	cmake, doxygen, pkgconf, pybind11
Uses from macOS	libxml2, libxslt
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	gnuradio
Version Scheme	0
Revision	11
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	yes
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

gnuradio 3.10.12.0-1

GNU Radio Software Radio Toolkit