# Install liboil with Homebrew, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper C library of simple functions optimized for various CPUs. Version 0.3.17 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:liboil ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install liboil ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install liboil ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/liboil/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install liboil ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: liboil from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#liboil ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/li/liboil/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install liboil-0_3-0 ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: liboil-0_3-0 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:liboil - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.3.17 - **Source summary:** C library of simple functions optimized for various CPUs - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - oil-bugreport (cli) - oil-bugreport (alias) ## Build dependencies - autoconf - automake - gtk-doc - libtool - pkgconf ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.3.17 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://wiki.freedesktop.org/liboil/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage liboil, the Library of Optimized Inner Loops, is a freedesktop.org-era C library of simple CPU-optimized routines. It collected small loops such as array conversion, multiplication, summing, and other SIMD-friendly operations behind a reusable API. ### Project history The project documentation describes liboil as a library of simple functions optimized for CPUs using techniques such as Altivec, MMX, and SSE. Its goal was to consolidate optimized inner-loop code that multimedia applications and libraries often carried privately. The freedesktop.org download directory shows a compact release line from 0.2.0 and 0.3.x in 2005 through 0.3.17 in February 2010. After that period, Orc, the Oil Runtime Compiler, became the successor project for generating and executing SIMD-style inner loops. ### Adoption history liboil mattered most in the multimedia and desktop stack, where many packages needed fast pixel, audio, or numeric loops but did not want to maintain architecture-specific assembly in every project. Its package-manager life continued after active upstream development because older software still linked against liboil, while newer software increasingly moved to Orc or compiler/native SIMD approaches. ### How it is used Developers used liboil as a C library for optimized primitive operations. Package users mostly encountered it indirectly as a dependency, with oil-bugreport available as a diagnostic executable. The library is relevant when building older multimedia stacks or software that still depends on the liboil API rather than Orc. ### Why package nerds care liboil is package-nerd interesting because it captures a transitional moment before widespread portable SIMD abstractions: projects wanted reusable CPU-specific inner loops, but compiler autovectorization and runtime SIMD libraries had not settled the problem. Its replacement by Orc is also instructive. The successor moved from a collection of hand-optimized functions toward a small runtime compiler for array operations, which explains why liboil often remains only as a compatibility package. ### Timeline - 2005: freedesktop.org download directory records liboil 0.2.0, 0.2.1, 0.2.2, and the early 0.3.x series. - 2006: freedesktop.org download directory records releases through liboil 0.3.10. - 2008: freedesktop.org download directory records liboil 0.3.13, 0.3.14, and 0.3.15. - 2010: freedesktop.org download directory records liboil 0.3.17. - 2010s: Orc is documented as the successor to liboil. ### Related projects - Orc, the Oil Runtime Compiler, is documented by its project as the successor to liboil. - GStreamer is closely related through Orc stewardship and through the multimedia use cases that made optimized inner loops valuable. - Altivec, MMX, SSE, NEON, and similar SIMD instruction families are the hardware context behind liboil and Orc. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes library-like package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - library-like package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** liboil - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - liboil: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/li/liboil/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - dnf - liboil - 0.3.16-38.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: liboil from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Library of Optimized Inner Loops, CPU optimized functions | http://liboil.freedesktop.org/ - dnf - liboil-devel - 0.3.16-38.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: liboil-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development files and static library for liboil | http://liboil.freedesktop.org/ - zypper - liboil-0_3-0 - 0.3.17-26.14: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: liboil-0_3-0 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Library of Optimized Inner Loops | http://liboil.freedesktop.org/wiki/ - zypper - liboil-devel - 0.3.17-26.14: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: liboil-devel from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Headers for the library of Optimized Inner Loops | http://liboil.freedesktop.org/wiki/ - zypper - liboil-doc - 0.3.17-26.14: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: liboil-doc from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Documentation for the library of Optimized Inner Loops | http://liboil.freedesktop.org/wiki/ - MacPorts - liboil: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/liboil/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [autoconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/autoconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [automake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/automake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gtk-doc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gtk-doc/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libtool](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libtool/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gcviewer](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gcviewer/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, performance. - [httpstat](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/httpstat/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, performance. - [jhiccup](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jhiccup/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, performance. - [tracy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tracy/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, performance. - [ali](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ali/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, performance. - [apr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/apr/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: c-library, cli, developer-tools. - [apr-util](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/apr-util/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: c-library, cli, developer-tools. - [async-profiler](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/async-profiler/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, performance. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/liboil.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/liboil.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph