diff --git a/packages/gdb.rb b/packages/gdb.rb
index 60c8e1a09..2753e47c9 100644
--- a/packages/gdb.rb
+++ b/packages/gdb.rb
@@ -20,13 +20,9 @@ class Gdb < Package
      x86_64: '95fe8fac708e2c28b4c8c8453bfbd7d85d5fe795d80ceaf86ff255d574b2c5b1',
   })
 
-  depends_on 'texinfo'
   depends_on 'libx11'
-  depends_on 'expat'
   depends_on 'python3'
   depends_on 'python27'
-  depends_on 'ncurses'
-  depends_on 'readline7'
 
   def self.build
     system './configure',
diff --git a/packages/gdbm.rb b/packages/gdbm.rb
index 6ad8ac272..5df0fec3b 100644
--- a/packages/gdbm.rb
+++ b/packages/gdbm.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class Gdbm < Package
      x86_64: 'b52cde5502c9bf35fe485776d976d1a44a872e2ffee8964297ac2fe3ef0d064e',
   })
 
-  depends_on 'readline7'
+  depends_on 'readline'
 
   def self.build
     system './configure',
diff --git a/packages/gnuplot.rb b/packages/gnuplot.rb
index d938028ec..e31443928 100644
--- a/packages/gnuplot.rb
+++ b/packages/gnuplot.rb
@@ -20,18 +20,11 @@ class Gnuplot < Package
      x86_64: '59bebf199e3de46e405b1ef27b0037f7a05d59cd97f53fa36e32878a3eb677c7',
   })
 
-  depends_on 'groff'
   depends_on 'libcerf'
   depends_on 'libxrender'
   depends_on 'libxxf86vm'
   depends_on 'lua'
   depends_on 'pango'
-  case ARCH
-  when 'x86_64'
-    depends_on 'readline7'
-  else
-    depends_on 'readline'
-  end
 
   def self.build
     system './configure',
diff --git a/packages/lua.rb b/packages/lua.rb
index a80af407b..af50b629f 100644
--- a/packages/lua.rb
+++ b/packages/lua.rb
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ class Lua < Package
      x86_64: '0c8aa3d1cda909e7f8a9f28c36acc459bdcae9091e300980fc6e7dcf2caf1313',
   })
 
-  depends_on 'readline7'
-
   def self.build
     system "make -C src all PLAT=linux SYSCFLAGS=\"-DLUA_USE_LINUX\" SYSLIBS=\"-Wl,-E -ldl -lreadline -lncurses\""
   end
diff --git a/packages/r.rb b/packages/r.rb
index bced0fa66..058f263c1 100644
--- a/packages/r.rb
+++ b/packages/r.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ class R < Package
   depends_on 'xzutils'
   depends_on 'bz2'
   depends_on 'curl'
-  depends_on 'readline7'
 
   def self.build
     system './configure',
diff --git a/packages/readline.rb b/packages/readline.rb
index b0f367d6e..fb1156def 100644
--- a/packages/readline.rb
+++ b/packages/readline.rb
@@ -1,48 +1,35 @@
 require 'package'
 
 class Readline < Package
-
-  @patchlevel = 8
-
   description 'The GNU Readline library provides a set of functions for use by applications that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in.'
   homepage 'http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html'
-  version '6.3p8-2'
-  source_url 'https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-6.3.tar.gz'
-  source_sha256 '56ba6071b9462f980c5a72ab0023893b65ba6debb4eeb475d7a563dc65cafd43'
+  version '8.0'
+  source_url 'https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-8.0.tar.gz'
+  source_sha256 'e339f51971478d369f8a053a330a190781acb9864cf4c541060f12078948e461'
 
   binary_url ({
-    aarch64: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-6.3p8-2-chromeos-armv7l.tar.xz',
-     armv7l: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-6.3p8-2-chromeos-armv7l.tar.xz',
-       i686: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-6.3p8-2-chromeos-i686.tar.xz',
-     x86_64: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-6.3p8-2-chromeos-x86_64.tar.xz',
+    aarch64: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-8.0-chromeos-armv7l.tar.xz',
+     armv7l: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-8.0-chromeos-armv7l.tar.xz',
+       i686: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-8.0-chromeos-i686.tar.xz',
+     x86_64: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline-8.0-chromeos-x86_64.tar.xz',
   })
   binary_sha256 ({
-    aarch64: '83218261c09120972d87c9710a251e22e1456fc19bd6bf4d0d111e445f9496a7',
-     armv7l: '83218261c09120972d87c9710a251e22e1456fc19bd6bf4d0d111e445f9496a7',
-       i686: 'cae31632449c2e5530f02d74377d2d61772bf4793fb8aea14e00550f7c9f18da',
-     x86_64: '0b6095eabde0211a03f4af71e1497ba06cad8c20a075425d1fae69f0948ce27a',
+    aarch64: 'd11d2b5e5180d2752b8e56696865daa60761cb5b93e27706205399baa13bbbb3',
+     armv7l: 'd11d2b5e5180d2752b8e56696865daa60761cb5b93e27706205399baa13bbbb3',
+       i686: '1dc734cf28063f2b552733cdb04219f7de76f3b59feab84ffe987a421e01a24c',
+     x86_64: '19575599c41f80d4fd0753a25f0591952c4eb4c552768432064605d195120626',
   })
 
   def self.build
-    system "wget --recursive --no-parent https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-6.3-patches/"
-    system "bash -c \"for (( N = 1; N <= #{@patchlevel}; N++ )); do \
-              patch -Np0 -i ftp.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-6.3-patches/readline63-00\\\${N}; \
-            done\""
-    system "./configure",
+    system './configure',
            "--prefix=#{CREW_PREFIX}",
            "--libdir=#{CREW_LIB_PREFIX}",
-           "--disable-static",
-           "--with-curses"
-    system "make"
+           '--disable-static',
+           '--with-curses'
+    system 'make'
   end
 
   def self.install
     system "make", "DESTDIR=#{CREW_DEST_DIR}", "install"
-    system "ln", "-sf", "/#{ARCH_LIB}/libreadline.so.6.3", "#{CREW_DEST_LIB_PREFIX}/libreadline.so.6"
-    system "ln", "-sf", "/#{ARCH_LIB}/libreadline.so.6.3", "#{CREW_DEST_LIB_PREFIX}/libreadline.so.6.3"
-    system "ln", "-sf", "/#{ARCH_LIB}/libreadline.so.6.3", "#{CREW_DEST_LIB_PREFIX}/libreadline.so"
-    system "ln", "-sf", "/#{ARCH_LIB}/libhistory.so.6.3", "#{CREW_DEST_LIB_PREFIX}/libhistory.so.6"
-    system "ln", "-sf", "/#{ARCH_LIB}/libhistory.so.6.3", "#{CREW_DEST_LIB_PREFIX}/libhistory.so.6.3"
-    system "ln", "-sf", "/#{ARCH_LIB}/libhistory.so.6.3", "#{CREW_DEST_LIB_PREFIX}/libhistory.so"
   end
 end
diff --git a/packages/readline7.rb b/packages/readline7.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ce195a61..000000000
--- a/packages/readline7.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-require 'package'
-
-class Readline7 < Package
-
-  @patchlevel = 5
-
-  description 'The GNU Readline library provides a set of functions for use by applications that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in.'
-  homepage 'http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html'
-  version '7.0p5-1'
-  source_url 'https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/readline/readline-7.0.tar.gz'
-  source_sha256 '750d437185286f40a369e1e4f4764eda932b9459b5ec9a731628393dd3d32334'
-
-  binary_url ({
-    aarch64: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline7-7.0p5-1-chromeos-armv7l.tar.xz',
-     armv7l: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline7-7.0p5-1-chromeos-armv7l.tar.xz',
-       i686: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline7-7.0p5-1-chromeos-i686.tar.xz',
-     x86_64: 'https://dl.bintray.com/chromebrew/chromebrew/readline7-7.0p5-1-chromeos-x86_64.tar.xz',
-  })
-  binary_sha256 ({
-    aarch64: '9c301f9f269c3ffb8962939d2e6b6d6fd0d62db273440f19e090504f53d2211e',
-     armv7l: '9c301f9f269c3ffb8962939d2e6b6d6fd0d62db273440f19e090504f53d2211e',
-       i686: '3686aaf9c93d69f3ec4ada1acd625f20c16b2165ffe92df1998a6f124d8e4ff0',
-     x86_64: '4e6e13afa0d02688b3431efdbed4f89dc90d8d504adb97eea35fbfbb5ed17688',
-  })
-
-  def self.build
-    system "wget --recursive --no-parent https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-7.0-patches/"
-    system "bash -c \"for (( N = 1; N <= #{@patchlevel}; N++ )); do \
-              patch -Np0 -i ftp.gnu.org/gnu/readline/readline-7.0-patches/readline70-00\\\${N}; \
-            done\""
-    system "./configure",
-           "--prefix=#{CREW_PREFIX}",
-           "--libdir=#{CREW_LIB_PREFIX}",
-           "--disable-static",
-           "--with-curses"
-    system "make"
-  end
-
-  def self.install
-    system "make", "DESTDIR=#{CREW_DEST_DIR}", "install"
-  end
-end
diff --git a/tools/core_packages.txt b/tools/core_packages.txt
index 4484f0c77..32baefbf4 100644
--- a/tools/core_packages.txt
+++ b/tools/core_packages.txt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ expat
 filecmd
 flex
 gawk
-gcc7
+gcc8
 gdbm
 gettext
 git