Install gputils with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• gpasm
• gpdasm
• gplib
• gplink
• gpstrip
• gpvc
• gpvo

Project history

The project grew out of gpasm, a GNU-style assembler for Microchip PIC devices. The official news archive records the gputils package being created on 2001-12-12 so gpasm, a new linker, and a library tool could be distributed together as GNU PIC Utilities.

gputils was created by Craig Franklin and James Bowman. The project page credits later support to Molnar Karoly, Borut Razem, David Barnett, Scott Dattalo, and Marko Kohtala.

The long release trail shows the package steadily chasing compatibility with Microchip's MPASM, MPLINK, and MPLIB tools: processor definition updates, COFF support, linker scripts, object-file work, MPLAB and MPLAB X synchronization, and bug fixes across PIC device families.

Adoption history

gputils became a standard open-source PIC toolchain component because it provided Unix-friendly assembler, linker, librarian, disassembler, object viewer, and COD viewer tools for a microcontroller family historically served by vendor tools.

The official site lists ports or packages for many systems, including ALT Linux, Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, Gentoo, Homebrew, NetBSD, OpenBSD, openSUSE, Slackware, Void Linux, and Ubuntu. That broad distro presence is a strong signal of long-term package-manager adoption.

Microchip test files also shaped the project: the official site says Microchip provided MPASM test files, which the project reformatted and used for compatibility testing.

How it is used

Typical use is embedded build work: assemble PIC assembly with gpasm, link objects with gplink, manage libraries with gplib, inspect or disassemble artifacts with gpvo, gpvc, gpdasm, gpstrip, and related tools.

The package is especially useful in makefile-driven or cross-platform embedded workflows where a free command-line PIC assembler is easier to automate than a vendor IDE.

Why package nerds care

gputils is the sort of package that explains why distro archives matter: it keeps older embedded hardware workflows reproducible even when vendor toolchains, IDEs, and supported host platforms move on.

The package also illustrates compatibility-as-maintenance. Much of its history is not flashy feature work but keeping device headers, linker scripts, object formats, diagnostics, and test behavior aligned enough with Microchip tooling for old projects to keep building.

Timeline

• 2001-03-04: gpasm 0.9.2 improves compatibility with Microchip MPASM test files.
• 2001-12-12: gputils package is created around gpasm, a new linker, and a library tool.
• 2002-01-13: gputils is imported to CVS.
• 2002-01-20: gputils 0.10.0 is released.
• 2003-03-14: gputils 0.11.0 adds initial relocatable object support.
• 2004-11-14: preliminary MPLAB plugin release is announced.
• 2012-12-31: gputils 1.0.0 is released.
• 2016-08-21: gputils 1.5.0 is released with gpasm and gplink changes and MPLAB X synchronization.
• 2022-01-30: gputils 1.5.2 is released with gplink features, PIC16F184XX support, and bug fixes.

Related projects

• gpsim is named by the official site as a gputils-compatible simulator.
• Microchip MPASM, MPLINK, and MPLIB are the vendor tools that gputils aims to be compatible with.
• The gputils MPLAB plugin connects the command-line tools to Microchip's older Windows IDE workflow.

Sources

• https://gputils.sourceforge.io/
• https://gputils.sourceforge.io/gputils.pdf
• https://gputils.sourceforge.io/previous.html
• https://sourceforge.net/p/gputils/code/HEAD/tree/trunk
• https://sourceforge.net/p/gputils/wiki/Home/