# raspberrypi/userland

Source code for ARM side libraries for interfacing to Raspberry Pi GPU.

Repository: https://github.com/raspberrypi/userland
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/raspberrypi-userland
Language: C
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Archived: true
Last push: 2024-12-23T07:52:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5061, "days_push": 618, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2069, forks 1074 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:10.296551+00:00)

## What it is
ARM-side C libraries for interfacing with the Raspberry Pi VideoCore GPU, including EGL, MMAL, OpenMAX IL, GLESv2, and vchiq bindings. The repository is officially deprecated; users should move to standard Linux APIs (V4L2, DRM/KMS, Mesa) and the raspberrypi/utils repo for remaining tools.

## Use cases
- access raspberry pi gpu from arm code
- use mmal for camera video decoding on raspberry pi
- build legacy bcm_host applications
- interface with videocore firmware via vchiq
- run openmax il components on raspberry pi
- cross-compile raspberry pi gpu libraries

## When to choose
- maintaining legacy raspberry pi software that depends on proprietary VideoCore APIs
- targeting older Raspberry Pi OS images that still ship /opt/vc/lib
- studying how the ARM side talked to the VideoCore firmware

## When to avoid
- starting any new Raspberry Pi project - the repo is deprecated and closed
- using modern Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm where these libraries are no longer installed
- wanting standard Linux graphics or multimedia APIs - use V4L2, DRM/KMS, or Mesa instead

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: abandoned
- function: graphics, sdk, developer-tools
- domain: embedded-systems, hardware, graphics, developer-tools
- platform: c, embedded
- tags: raspberry-pi, videocore, gpu, deprecated, bcm2835, egl, openmax, mmal, linux

## Member repositories
- raspberrypi/userland (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:10.296551+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:56:46.004901+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/raspberrypi/userland (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:10.296551+00:00, sha 373b5f8ae83d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.