You can install Sage either from a pre-built binary tarball or from source. The binary method is fastest, and has the least prerequisites. The source method gives you access to possibly a slightly more up-to-date version of Sage, and ensures that you can modify any of the Sage source code and recompile. Also, installing from source should be simpler than you're used to with most software, since much testing is done to make sure Sage and all its components can be successfully compiled with no user interaction on a range of computers. Thus it's probably easier for you to build all of Sage from source than it would be for you to build some of the packages that come with Sage (e.g., Singular).
The Sage distribution includes most programs on which Sage depends, as listed in Table 1. These programs are all released under a GPL-compatible license (see the COPYING.txt file in the Sage home directory for more details).
Name | Description |
Bzip2 | bzip2 compression library |
clisp | Common lisp interpreter |
dokchitser-L | ![]() |
ec | Watkins elliptic curves package (modular degrees) |
GAP | A System for Computational Discrete Algebra |
GCL | GNU Scientific Library |
genus2reduction | Reduction information about genus 2 curves |
gfan | Computation of Groebner fans and toric varieties |
GMP | GNU multiprecision arithmetic library |
GMP-ECM | Highly optimized elliptic curve factorization program |
gnuplotpy | Python graphics libraries |
lcalc | Rubinstein's L-functions calculator |
IPython | Interactive Python shell |
MPFR | Multiprecision floating reals |
Maxima | Symbolic algebra and Calculus |
mwrank | Cremona's elliptic curves program |
NTL | Number theory C++ library |
Numeric | Python number-crunching routines |
PARI | PARI number theory library |
Pexpect | Python expect (for remote control of other systems) |
Pyrex | Compiled extension language for Python |
Python | Python |
Readline | GNU Readline line editor library |
simon-2descent | Algebraic ![]() |
Singular | Polynomial computations in algebraic geometry, etc. |
termcap | display terminal library |
sympow | Symmetric power L-functions and modular degrees |
Twisted | Networking framework |
zlib | compression library |
ZODB | Zope Object Database |
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