diff --git a/CI/azure/ci-ubuntu.sh b/CI/azure/ci-ubuntu.sh
index 25ccea0b1..f7fce9340 100644
--- a/CI/azure/ci-ubuntu.sh
+++ b/CI/azure/ci-ubuntu.sh
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ mkdir build && cd build
 cmake .. -Werror=dev -DCOMPILE_WARNING_AS_ERROR=ON -DWITH_SERIAL_BACKEND=ON -DWITH_EXAMPLES=ON -DCPP_BINDINGS=ON -DPYTHON_BINDINGS=ON -DENABLE_PACKAGING=ON -DCPACK_SYSTEM_NAME="${ARTIFACTNAME}"
 make
 make package
+make required2tar
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index 4e1bddc28..e39eeb035 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ stages:
         fi
         make
         make package
+        make required2tar
       displayName: 'Build'
     - task: CopyFiles@2
       inputs:
diff --git a/cmake/LinuxPackaging.cmake b/cmake/LinuxPackaging.cmake
index d70cee9c4..396b391f9 100644
--- a/cmake/LinuxPackaging.cmake
+++ b/cmake/LinuxPackaging.cmake
@@ -1,12 +1,51 @@
 # support creating some basic binpkgs via `make package`
 set(CPACK_SET_DESTDIR ON)
-set(CPACK_GENERATOR TGZ;DEB)
+set(CPACK_GENERATOR TGZ)
 
-FIND_PROGRAM(RPMBUILD_CMD rpmbuild)
-if (RPMBUILD_CMD)
-	set(CPACK_PACKAGE_RELOCATABLE OFF)
+# Top level settings
+set(CPACK_INCLUDE_TOPLEVEL_DIRECTORY 0)
+set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR ${LIBIIO_VERSION_MAJOR})
+set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR ${LIBIIO_VERSION_MINOR})
+set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH g${LIBIIO_VERSION_GIT})
+set(CPACK_BUNDLE_NAME libiio)
+set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION ${LIBIIO_VERSION})
+
+# Start with empty file
+set(REQUIRES "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/require_manifest.txt")
+file(WRITE ${REQUIRES} "")
+
+# Determine the distribution we are on
+file(STRINGS /etc/os-release distro REGEX "^NAME=")
+string(REGEX REPLACE "NAME=\"(.*)\"" "\\1" distro "${distro}")
+file(STRINGS /etc/os-release disversion REGEX "^VERSION_ID=")
+string(REGEX REPLACE "VERSION_ID=\"(.*)\"" "\\1" disversion "${disversion}")
+
+if(distro MATCHES "\\.*Ubuntu\\.*")
+	set(CPACK_GENERATOR ${CPACK_GENERATOR};DEB)
+elseif (distro MATCHES "\\.*Debian\\.*")
+	set(CPACK_GENERATOR ${CPACK_GENERATOR};DEB)
+elseif (distro MATCHES "\\.*Fedora\\.*")
+	set(CPACK_GENERATOR ${CPACK_GENERATOR};RPM)
+elseif (distro MATCHES "\\.*CentOS\\.*")
 	set(CPACK_GENERATOR ${CPACK_GENERATOR};RPM)
-	set(CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES "libaio >= 0.3.107, avahi >= 0.6.25, libusb1 >= 1.0.9, libxml2 >= 2.7.6")
+elseif (distro MATCHES "\\.*SUSE\\.*")
+	set(CPACK_GENERATOR ${CPACK_GENERATOR};RPM)
+else()
+	message(STATUS "found unknown distribution ${distro}, Version : ${disversion}")
+	message(FATAL_ERROR "please report an error to https:\\/\\/github.com\\/analogdevicesinc\\/libiio\\/issues")
+endif()
+
+if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+	FIND_PROGRAM(RPMBUILD rpmbuild)
+	FIND_PROGRAM(RPM_CMD rpm)
+	set(CPACK_PACKAGE_RELOCATABLE OFF)
+	if (NOT RPMBUILD)
+		message (FATAL_ERROR "To build packages, please install rpmbuild")
+	elseif(NOT RPM_CMD)
+		message(STATUS "assuming default package versions")
+	else()
+		message(STATUS "querying ${RPM_CMD} for package dependencies")
+	endif()
 
 	# Add these for CentOS 7
 	set(CPACK_RPM_EXCLUDE_FROM_AUTO_FILELIST_ADDITION
@@ -21,121 +60,215 @@ if (RPMBUILD_CMD)
 	)
 endif()
 
-set(CPACK_INCLUDE_TOPLEVEL_DIRECTORY 0)
-set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MAJOR ${LIBIIO_VERSION_MAJOR})
-set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_MINOR ${LIBIIO_VERSION_MINOR})
-set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION_PATCH g${LIBIIO_VERSION_GIT})
-set(CPACK_BUNDLE_NAME libiio)
-set(CPACK_PACKAGE_VERSION ${LIBIIO_VERSION})
-# debian specific package settings
-set(CPACK_PACKAGE_CONTACT "Engineerzone <https://ez.analog.com/community/linux-device-drivers>")
-
-option(DEB_DETECT_DEPENDENCIES "Detect dependencies for .deb packages" OFF)
-
 # if we are going to be looking for things, make sure we have the utilities
-if(DEB_DETECT_DEPENDENCIES)
+if(CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
 	FIND_PROGRAM(DPKG_CMD dpkg)
 	FIND_PROGRAM(DPKGQ_CMD dpkg-query)
+	if (NOT DPKG_CMD)
+		message (FATAL_ERROR "To build packages, please install dpkg")
+	elseif (NOT DPKGQ_CMD)
+		message(STATUS "assuming default package versions")
+	else()
+		message(STATUS "querying ${DPKGQ_CMD} for package dependencies")
+	endif()
+	# debian specific package settings
+	set(CPACK_PACKAGE_CONTACT "Engineerzone <https://ez.analog.com/community/linux-device-drivers>")
 endif()
 
-# if we want to, and have the capabilities find what is needed,
-# based on what backends are turned on and what libraries are installed
-if(DEB_DETECT_DEPENDENCIES AND DPKG_CMD AND DPKGQ_CMD)
-	message(STATUS "querying installed packages on system for dependencies")
-	execute_process(COMMAND "${DPKG_CMD}" --print-architecture 
+if(NOT CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
+	 execute_process(COMMAND "${DPKG_CMD}" --print-architecture
 		OUTPUT_VARIABLE CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_ARCHITECTURE
 		OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
-	# don't add a package dependency if it is not installed locally
-	# these should be the debian package names
+else()
+	message(FATAL_ERROR "package building with cross compile not handled - please -DENABLE_PACKAGING=OFF")
+endif()
+
+# don't add a package dependency if it is not installed locally
+# these should be the debian package names
+if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
 	set(PACKAGES "libc6")
-	if (WITH_LOCAL_BACKEND)
-		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libaio")
+	set(DEFAULT_DEB "libc6 (>= 2.17), ")
+elseif(CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+	set(PACKAGES "glibc")
+	set(DEFAULT_RPM "glibc >=2.17, ")
+endif()
+
+if (WITH_ZSTD)
+	set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libzstd")
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
+		set(DEFAULT_DEB "${DEFAULT_DEB}libzstd (>= 1.5.0), ")
+	elseif (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+		set(DEFAULT_RPM "${DEFAULT_RPM}libzstd >= 1.5.0, ")
 	endif()
-	if(HAVE_AVAHI)
+endif()
+# libpthread.so is provided by libc6, so don't check NEED_THREADS
+if (WITH_LOCAL_BACKEND)
+	set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libaio")
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
+		set(DEFAULT_DEB "${DEFAULT_DEB}libaio (>= 0.3.109), ")
+	elseif(CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+		set(DEFAULT_RPM "${DEFAULT_RPM}libaio >=0.3.109, ")
+	endif()
+	# librt.so is provided by libc6 which is already included
+endif()
+if(HAVE_AVAHI)
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
 		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libavahi-client libavahi-common")
+		set(DEFAULT_DEB "${DEFAULT_DEB}libavahi-client3 (>= 0.6.31), libavahi-common3 (>= 0.6.31), ")
+	elseif(CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} avahi")
+		set(DEFAULT_RPM "${DEFAULT_RPM}avahi >= 0.6.31, avahi-libs >= 0.6.31, ")
 	endif()
-	if(WITH_USB_BACKEND)
+endif()
+if(WITH_USB_BACKEND)
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
 		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libusb-1")
+		set(DEFAULT_DEB "${DEFAULT_DEB}libusb-1 (<2:1.0.5), ")
+	elseif(CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libusb")
+		set(DEFAULT_RPM "${DEFAULT_RPM}libuse>= 0.1.5, ")
 	endif()
-	if(WITH_XML_BACKEND)
-		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libxml2")
-	endif()
-	if(WITH_SERIAL_BACKEND)
+endif()
+if(WITH_XML_BACKEND)
+	set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libxml2")
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
+		 set(DEFAULT_DEB "${DEFAULT_DEB}libxml2 (>= 2.9.4), ")
+	 elseif (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+		 set(DEFAULT_RPM "${DEFAULT_RPM}libxml2 >= 2.9.4, ")
+	 endif()
+endif()
+if(WITH_SERIAL_BACKEND)
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
 		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libserialport0")
+		set(DEFAULT_DEB "${DEFAULT_DEB}libserialport0 (>= 0.1.1), ")
+	else()
+		set(PACKAGES "${PACKAGES} libserialport")
+		set(DEFAULT_RPM "${DEFAULT_RPM}libserialport >= 0.1.1, ")
 	endif()
-	# find the version of the installed package, which is hard to do in
-	# cmake first, turn the list into an list (separated by semicolons)
-	string(REGEX REPLACE " " ";" PACKAGES ${PACKAGES})
-	# then iterate over each
-	foreach(package ${PACKAGES})
-		# List packages matching given pattern ${package},
-		# key is the glob (*) at the end of the ${package} name,
-		# so we don't need to be so specific
+endif()
+
+# find the version of the installed package, which is hard to do in
+# cmake first, turn the list into a list (separated by semicolons)
+string(REGEX REPLACE " " ";" PACKAGES ${PACKAGES})
+# then iterate over each
+foreach(package ${PACKAGES})
+	# List packages matching given pattern ${package},
+	# key is the glob (*) at the end of the ${package} name,
+	# so we don't need to be so specific
+	if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB" AND DPKG_CMD)
 		execute_process(COMMAND "${DPKG_CMD}" -l ${package}*
 			OUTPUT_VARIABLE DPKG_PACKAGES)
 		# returns a string, in a format:
 		# ii  libxml2:amd64  2.9.4+dfsg1- amd64 GNOME XML library
 		# 'ii' means installed - which is what we are looking for
-		STRING(REGEX MATCHALL "ii  ${package}[a-z0-9A-Z.-]*"
+		STRING(REGEX MATCHALL "ii  ${package}[a-z0-9A-Z.-]*:${CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_ARCHITECTURE}"
 				DPKG_INSTALLED_PACKAGES ${DPKG_PACKAGES})
 		# get rid of the 'ii', and split things up, so we can look
 		# at the name
 		STRING(REGEX REPLACE "ii  " ";" NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES
 			${DPKG_INSTALLED_PACKAGES})
-		foreach(match ${NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES})
-			# ignore packages marked as dev, debug,
-			# documentations, or utils
-			STRING(REGEX MATCHALL "dev|dbg|doc|utils" TEMP_TEST
-					${match})
+	elseif (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM" AND RPM_CMD)
+		execute_process(COMMAND "${RPM_CMD}" -qa --qf "%{n};" "${package}*"
+			OUTPUT_VARIABLE NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES)
+	else()
+		set(NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES ${package})
+	endif()
+	list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES)
+	string(STRIP "${NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES}" NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES)
+	if (NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES STREQUAL "")
+		message(FATAL_ERROR "could not find ${package} installed")
+	endif()
+	foreach(match ${NAME_INSTALLED_PACKAGES})
+		# ignore packages marked as dev, debug,
+		# documentations, utils, data or cross
+		STRING(REGEX MATCHALL "-dev|-dbg|-doc|-lang|-extra|-data|-utils|-cross|-plugins|-python|-headers|-gobject|-locale|-tools|glibc-common|libusbmuxd|libusbx" TEMP_TEST
+				${match})
+		if(NOT "${TEMP_TEST}" STREQUAL "")
+			continue()
+		endif()
+		if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB" AND DPKGQ_CMD)
+			# find the actual version, executes:
+			# dpkg-query --showformat='\${Version}'
+		        #	--show libusb-1.0-0
+			execute_process(COMMAND "${DPKGQ_CMD}"
+					 --showformat='\${Version}'
+					 --show "${match}"
+					 OUTPUT_VARIABLE DPKGQ_VER)
+			# debian standard is package_ver-debian_ver,
+		        #	"'2.9.4+dfsg1-2.1'"
+			# ignore patches and debian suffix version, and
+		        #	remove single quote
+			string(REGEX REPLACE "[+-][a-z0-9A-Z.]*" "" DPKGQ_VER ${DPKGQ_VER})
+			string(REGEX REPLACE "'" "" DPKGQ_VER ${DPKGQ_VER})
+			# build the string for the Debian dependency
+			STRING(REGEX REPLACE ":.*" "" TEMP_TEST ${match})
+			set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS "${CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS}"
+				"${TEMP_TEST} (>= ${DPKGQ_VER}), ")
+		elseif (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM" AND RPM_CMD)
+			# find the actual version, executes:
+			# rpm -qp --queryformat '%{VERSION}' libusb1
+			execute_process(COMMAND "${RPM_CMD}" -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}' ${match}
+					OUTPUT_VARIABLE RPM_VER)
+			STRING(REGEX REPLACE "'" "" RPM_VER ${RPM_VER})
+			set(CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES "${CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES}"
+				"${match} >= ${RPM_VER}, ")
+		endif()
+		# find the actual so files
+		STRING(REGEX MATCHALL "libc6|glibc" TEMP_TEST ${match})
+		if(NOT "${TEMP_TEST}" STREQUAL "")
+			continue()
+		endif()
+		if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB" AND DPKG_CMD)
+			# build up the so locations
+			execute_process(COMMAND "${DPKG_CMD}"
+				-L "${match}"
+				OUTPUT_VARIABLE DPK_RESULT)
+		elseif (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM" AND RPM_CMD)
+			execute_process(COMMAND "${RPM_CMD}" -ql ${match}
+				OUTPUT_VARIABLE DPK_RESULT)
+		else()
+			continue()
+		endif()
+		STRING(STRIP ${DPK_RESULT} STRIPPED)
+		STRING(REGEX REPLACE "[\r\n]" ";" POSSIBLE_SO "${STRIPPED}")
+		foreach(is_so ${POSSIBLE_SO})
+			# match with ".so." or ".so" (and the end)
+			STRING(REGEX MATCHALL "\\.so$|\\.so\\." TEMP_TEST ${is_so})
 			if("${TEMP_TEST}" STREQUAL "")
-				# find the actual version, executes:
-				# dpkg-query --showformat='\${Version}'
-			        #	--show libusb-1.0-0
-				execute_process(COMMAND "${DPKGQ_CMD}"
-				       		 --showformat='\${Version}'
-						 --show "${match}"
-						 OUTPUT_VARIABLE DPKGQ_VER)
-				# debian standard is package_ver-debian_ver,
-			        #	"'2.9.4+dfsg1-2.1'"
-				# ignore patches and debian suffix version, and
-			        #	remove single quote
-				string(REGEX REPLACE "[+-][a-z0-9A-Z.]*" ""
-						DPKGQ_VER ${DPKGQ_VER})
-				string(REGEX REPLACE "'" "" DPKGQ_VER
-						${DPKGQ_VER})
-				# build the string for the Debian dependency
-				set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS
-					"${CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS}"
-					"${match} (>= ${DPKGQ_VER}), ")
+				continue()
+			endif()
+			if(IS_SYMLINK ${is_so})
+				continue()
 			endif()
-		endforeach(match)
-	endforeach(package)
+			file(APPEND ${REQUIRES} "${is_so}\n")
+		endforeach(is_so)
+	endforeach(match)
+endforeach(package)
+
+configure_file( "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/add_requirements2tar.sh.in"
+		"${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/add_requirements2tar.sh"
+		IMMEDIATE @ONLY
+	)
+add_custom_target(required2tar
+	COMMAND sh ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/add_requirements2tar.sh
+	COMMENT "Adding requirements to tarball"
+	)
+
+if (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "DEB")
+	if (NOT DPKGQ_CMD)
+		set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS "${DEFAULT_DEB}")
+	endif()
 	# remove the dangling end comma
 	string(REGEX REPLACE ", $" "" CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS
 		${CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS})
-else()
-	# assume everything is turned on, and running on a modern OS
-	set(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS "libaio1 (>= 0.3.109), libavahi-client3 (>= 0.6.31), libavahi-common3 (>= 0.6.31), libavahi-common-data (>= 0.6.31), libc6 (>= 2.19), libusb-1.0-0 (>= 2:1.0.17), libxml2 (>= 2.9.1), libserialport0 (>=0.1.1)")
-	message(STATUS "Using default dependencies for packaging")
-endif()
-
-message(STATUS "Package dependencies (.deb): " ${CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS})
-if (CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES)
-	message(STATUS "Package dependencies (.rpm): " ${CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES})
-endif()
-
-if(${CMAKE_MAJOR_VERSION} LESS 3)
-	# old versions of cmake dont include this, but the same vintage of dpkg requires it
-	IF(NOT CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_ARCHITECTURE)
-		FIND_PROGRAM(DPKG_CMD dpkg)
-		IF(NOT DPKG_CMD)
-			MESSAGE(STATUS "Can not find dpkg in your path, default to i386.")
-			SET(CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_ARCHITECTURE i386)
-		ENDIF(NOT DPKG_CMD)
-		EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND "${DPKG_CMD}" --print-architecture
-			OUTPUT_VARIABLE CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_ARCHITECTURE
-			OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
-	ENDIF(NOT CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_ARCHITECTURE)
+	message(STATUS "Dependencies (.deb): " ${CPACK_DEBIAN_PACKAGE_DEPENDS})
+elseif (CPACK_GENERATOR MATCHES "RPM")
+	if (NOT RPM_CMD)
+		set(CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES "${DEFAULT_RPM}")
+	endif()
+	string(REGEX REPLACE ", $" "" CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES
+		${CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES})
+	message(STATUS "Dependencies (.rpm): " ${CPACK_RPM_PACKAGE_REQUIRES})
 endif()
 
 # Make sure the generated .deb cannot be installed alongside the Debian ones
diff --git a/cmake/add_requirements2tar.sh.in b/cmake/add_requirements2tar.sh.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..848a13bed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/add_requirements2tar.sh.in
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# should be called from "make required2tar"
+set -e
+
+cd @CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@
+
+manifest=./require_manifest.txt
+if [ ! -f ${manifest} ] ; then
+	echo "Can not find manifest at ${manifest}"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+gz=$(ls ./libiio*.tar.gz)
+if [ -z "${gz}" ] ; then
+	echo "try make package first"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if [ "$(echo -n ${gz} | tr -cd ' \t' | wc -c)" -ne "0" ] ; then
+	echo "too many tar, there should be only one, but found ${gz}"
+	exit 1
+fi
+tar=$(echo ${gz} | sed 's/\.gz$//')
+
+#unzip the file (can not append while it is gzipped)
+#gunzip ${gz}
+
+# We should be able to just "tar --append -f ${tar} -T manufest.txt, but the tar on
+# CenrOS7 doesn't support that - so we we need to split it apart, and add
+# files manually.
+
+if [ -d tarball_fixup ] ; then
+        rm -rf tarball_fixup
+fi
+mkdir tarball_fixup
+tar -xzf ${gz} -C ./tarball_fixup
+
+while read -r line
+do
+	if [ -f ${line} ] ; then
+		echo "adding ${line} to architve"
+		#make sure the directory exists as a target
+		mkdir -p ./tarball_fixup$(dirname ${line})
+		cp ${line} ./tarball_fixup${line}
+
+		cd ./tarball_fixup$(dirname ${line})
+		line=$(basename ${line})
+
+		until echo ${line} | grep -q \.so.[0-9]*$
+                do
+			tmp=$(echo ${line} | sed 's/\.[0-9]*$//')
+			if [ ! -f "${tmp}" ] ; then
+				ln -s ${line} ${tmp}
+			else
+				echo "target ${tmp} already exists"
+				ls -l ${tmp}
+			fi
+			line=${tmp}
+		done
+		cd @CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@
+
+	else
+		echo "could not find ${line} to copy"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+done < ${manifest}
+
+tar -czf ${gz} -C ./tarball_fixup/ .
+rm -rf tarball_fixup
+