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

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• cgps
• gps2udp
• gpsctl
• gpsd
• gpsdctl
• gpsdebuginfo
• gpsdecode
• gpsmon
• gpspipe
• gpsrinex
• gpssnmp
• gpxlogger
• lcdgps
• ntpshmmon
• ppscheck

Project history

The gpsd project history says Remco Treffkorn started the project in 1995. Derrick Brashear and Russ Nelson were among the early maintainers, and the original architecture remained useful enough that it attracted little attention until proprietary receiver support strained it.

Eric S. Raymond began working on gpsd in August 2004 after encountering a problem with a BU-303 USB GPS. The project history describes a substantial refactor, added documentation, new features, and libgps as the prototype for gpsd 2.0.

In early 2005 gpsd was reshaped around packet sniffing, autobauding, and a daemon layer over device drivers. The project history identifies SiRF as the first non-NMEA device family supported by that redesign.

By the end of 2006, gpsd supported several vendor binary protocols along with NMEA and Zodiac, had a larger suite of GPS test tools, a regression-test framework, multi-device support, and hotplug autoconfiguration.

Adoption history

The gpsd website describes the daemon as widely deployed in mobile embedded systems and names uses in Android phone location services, drones, robot submarines, driverless cars, aircraft, marine navigation systems, and military vehicles.

Its adoption pattern is package-manager friendly: distributions can install gpsd, udev integration, client tools, and libraries once, then many applications can consume position data without each application speaking serial protocols directly.

The project history records several forks, including GPSdrive's variant, ngpsd, and tgpsd, then notes that gpsd became large and visible enough to absorb most potential fork pressure.

How it is used

Users commonly run `gpsd` as a daemon attached to a serial, USB, or Bluetooth receiver. The daemon listens on TCP port 2947 by default and serves clients such as `cgps`, `gpspipe`, mapping tools, time synchronization setups, and application libraries.

The official manpage emphasizes that gpsd hides receiver differences, discovers speed and protocol, supports NMEA and many binary protocols, and lets multiple clients avoid contention for one serial device.

gpsd is also part of timekeeping workflows: its tools and documentation cover NTP/shared-memory integration and PPS diagnostics for hosts using GPS as a time source.

Why package nerds care

gpsd is one of the canonical examples of a daemon package that turns messy hardware protocols into a stable local service API. For packagers, the interesting parts are not just the daemon but the client tools, udev/hotplug rules, Python/C bindings, manpages, and optional protocol support.

It also has an unusually explicit project history, including migrations from older forges to GitLab, a Subversion-to-git switch in 2010, and an autotools-to-scons switch in 2011.

Timeline

• 1995: Remco Treffkorn starts gpsd.
• 1999-2002: EarthMate proprietary-format work strains the original architecture.
• 2004: Eric S. Raymond refactors the project and moves it toward gpsd 2.0.
• 2005: Packet sniffing, autobauding, and non-NMEA driver architecture appear.
• 2006: Vendor binary protocols, test tools, regression tests, multi-device support, and hotplug autoconfiguration are in place.
• 2009: GPSD command protocol is redesigned and AIS receiver support is added.
• 2010: Project moves from Subversion to git.
• 2011: Build system changes from autotools to scons; gpsd 3.0 ships.
• 2019: Repository, bug tracker, and web content move to GitLab.

Related projects

• Kismet, GpsDrive, Navit, Viking, GeoClue, OpenCPN, and Firefox/Mozilla are listed by the gpsd site among applications or systems using gpsd.
• NMEA 0183, AIS, SiRF, Garmin, u-blox, RTCM, NTP, and PPS are recurring protocols or integrations in gpsd documentation.
• Gypsy is named by the gpsd history as a later competing project.

Sources

• https://gitlab.com/gpsd/gpsd
• https://gpsd.gitlab.io/gpsd/gpsd.html
• https://gpsd.gitlab.io/gpsd/history.html
• https://gpsd.gitlab.io/gpsd/index.html