The libicom library is a character based dynamicly linked library for Linux. It is used to remotely control the Icom IC-R8500 wide band receiver via an RS232 link. All call and return parameters to the control functions are character string based. A forthcoming library tkicom will use SWIG to wrap this library as a Tcl/Tk library for rapid developement projects. The Linux operating system and the IC-R8500 receiver are popular among radio amateurs and those of us interested in the SETI search for extra terrestrial intelligence. The library is released under the GPL license.