diff --git a/bin/zopen-install b/bin/zopen-install
index 7443ebfbd..622e24727 100755
--- a/bin/zopen-install
+++ b/bin/zopen-install
@@ -184,18 +184,69 @@ installDependencies()
 
 handlePackageInstall()
 {
-
   fullname="$1"
   isRuntimeDependency=$2
   if [ -z "$isRuntimeDependency" ]; then
     isRuntimeDependency=false
   fi
-  printVerbose "Name to install: ${fullname}, parsing any version ('=') or tag ('%') has been specified"
-  name=$(echo "${fullname}" | sed -e 's#[=%].*##')
+
+  operator=""
+  versioned=""
+  tagged=""
+
+  # Support: name=ver, name>=ver, name>ver, name<=ver, name<ver, name%tag
+  name=$(echo "${fullname}" | sed -E 's/[=><%].*//')
   repo="${name}"
-  versioned=$(echo "${fullname}" | cut -s -d '=' -f 2)
+
+  # Get everything after the name
+  suffix="${fullname#$name}"
+
+  # Extract operator (can be >=, <=, >, <, =) from the beginning of suffix
+  operator=$(echo "${suffix}" | sed -E -n 's/^([>=<]{1,2}).*/\1/p')
+
+  if [ -n "${operator}" ]; then
+    # Validate operator
+    case "${operator}" in
+      "="|">"|">="|"<"|"<=") ;;
+      *) printError "Invalid operator '${operator}' in package specification. Supported operators are: =, >, >=, <, <=" ;;
+    esac
+
+    # Extract version: take everything after operator and before %
+    rest="${suffix#$operator}"
+    versioned="${rest%%%*}"
+
+    if [ -z "${versioned}" ]; then
+      printError "A version must be provided when using an operator (e.g., ${name}${operator}1.0)."
+    fi
+  else
+    # Fallback to older '=' parsing if no explicit operator found but versioned exists
+    # (Checking if suffix starts with '=' and taking everything before '%')
+    case "${suffix}" in
+      =*)
+        operator="="
+        rest="${suffix#=}"
+        versioned="${rest%%%*}"
+        ;;
+    esac
+  fi
+
+  # Validate that the version string contains valid characters (alphanumeric, dots, hyphens)
+  if [ -n "${versioned}" ]; then
+    # Strip leading 'v' if present for validation
+    v_to_check="${versioned#v}"
+    # Must contain at least one digit and only valid chars
+    if [ -z "${v_to_check}" ] || ! echo "${v_to_check}" | grep -q "[0-9]" || echo "${v_to_check}" | grep -q "[^0-9a-zA-Z.-]" || echo "${v_to_check}" | grep -q "^\." || echo "${v_to_check}" | grep -q "\.$" || echo "${v_to_check}" | grep -q "\.\."; then
+      printError "Invalid version string '${versioned}'. Versions must be numeric segments separated by dots (e.g., 1.2.3) and can include alphanumeric suffixes (e.g., 1.2.3-rc1)."
+    fi
+  fi
+
+  # Extract tag
   tagged=$(echo "${fullname}" | cut -s -d '%' -f 2)
-  printDebug "Name:${name};version:${versioned};tag:${tagged};repo:${repo}"
+
+  if [ -n "${versioned}" ] && [ -n "${tagged}" ]; then
+    printError "Ambiguous package specification '${fullname}'. Provide either a version constraint or a tag, but not both."
+  fi
+  printDebug "Name:${name};operator:${operator};version:${versioned};tag:${tagged};repo:${repo}"
   printInfo "${NC}${HEADERCOLOR}${BOLD}Processing package: ${name}${NC}"
 
   nameSansPort=$(echo "${name}" | sed -e 's#\(.*\)port$#\1#')
@@ -242,14 +293,35 @@ handlePackageInstall()
   # Options where the user explicitly sets a version/tag/releaseline currently ignore any configured release-line,
   # either for a previous package install or system default
   if [ -n "${versioned}" ]; then
-    printVerbose "Specific version ${versioned} requested - checking existence and URL."
+    printVerbose "Specific version ${versioned} requested with operator '${operator}' - checking existence and URL."
     requestedMajor=$(echo "${versioned}" | awk -F'.' '{print $1}')
-    requestedMinor=$(echo "${versioned}" | awk -F'.' '{print $2}')
-    requestedPatch=$(echo "${versioned}" | awk -F'.' '{print $3}')
-    requestedSubrelease=$(echo "${versioned}" | awk -F'.' '{print $4}')
-    requestedVersion="${requestedMajor}\\\.${requestedMinor}\\\.${requestedPatch}\\\.${requestedSubrelease}"
-    printVerbose "Finding URL for latest release matching version prefix: requestedVersion: ${requestedVersion}"
-    releaseMetadata=$(/bin/printf "%s" "${releases}" | jq -e -r '. | map(select(.assets[].name | test("'${requestedVersion}'")))[0]')
+    if [ -z "${requestedMajor}" ]; then
+      printError "A major version must be provided when specifying a version (e.g., ${name}=1)."
+    fi
+
+    # Convert requested version string to a JSON array of numbers for jq
+    req_v_json=$(echo "${versioned#v}" | tr '.' '\n' | jq -R 'tonumber' | jq -s -c .)
+
+    printVerbose "Finding latest release matching ${operator} ${versioned}"
+    # Unified selection logic using jq:
+    # 1. to_v: Converts a dot-delimited version string to a numeric array, padded with 0s to length 8
+    # 2. match_v: Handles prefix match for '=' and numeric comparison for others
+    releaseMetadata=$(/bin/printf "%s" "${releases}" | jq -e -r --arg op "${operator}" --argjson req_v "${req_v_json}" '
+      def to_v: if . == null then [0] else split(".") | map(tonumber? // 0) end | . + [range(0; 8 - length) | 0];
+      def match_v(rv; op):
+        to_v as $av |
+        (rv + [range(0; 8 - (rv | length)) | 0]) as $nrv |
+        if op == "=" then $av[0:(rv | length)] == rv
+        elif op == ">=" then $av >= $nrv
+        elif op == ">" then $av > $nrv
+        elif op == "<=" then $av <= $nrv
+        elif op == "<" then $av < $nrv
+        else false end;
+      map(select(.assets[0].version != null and (.assets[0].version | match_v($req_v; $op)))) | 
+      sort_by([(.assets[0].version | to_v), .date, .tag_name]) | reverse | .[0]')
+    if [ -z "${releaseMetadata}" ] || [ "${releaseMetadata}" = "null" ]; then
+      printError "Could not find a release of '${name}' matching '${operator}${versioned}'"
+    fi
   elif [ -n "${tagged}" ]; then
     printVerbose "Explicit tagged version '${tagged}' specified. Checking for match."
     releaseMetadata=$(/bin/printf "%s" "${releases}" | jq -e -r '.[] | select(.tag_name == "'${tagged}'")')
@@ -861,18 +933,26 @@ if ${all}; then
   done
   installArray=$(strtrim "${installArray}")
 else
+  chosenRepos=$(echo "${chosenRepos}" | tr ',' ' ' | tr -s ' ')
   chosenRepos=$(strtrim "${chosenRepos}")
   invalidlist=""
-  for chosenRepo in $(echo "${chosenRepos}" | tr ',' ' ' | tr -s ' '); do
+  for chosenRepo in ${chosenRepos}; do
     printVerbose "Processing repo: ${chosenRepo}"
-    printVerbose "Stripping any version (%), tag (#) or port suffixes"
-    toolrepo=$(echo "${chosenRepo}" | sed -e 's#%.*##' -e 's#=.*##')
+    printVerbose "Stripping any version operator (>, >=, <, <=, =), tag (%) or port suffixes"
+    toolrepo=$(echo "${chosenRepo}" | sed -E 's/[=><%].*//')
     toolfound=$(echo "${repo_results}" | awk -vtoolrepo="${toolrepo}" '$0 == toolrepo {print}')
     if [ "${toolfound}" = "${toolrepo}" ]; then
       printVerbose "Adding '${chosenRepo}' to the install queue."
       installArray="${installArray} ${chosenRepo}"
       printVerbose "Removing valid port from input list."
-      chosenRepos=$(echo "${chosenRepos}" | sed -e "s#^${chosenRepo}\$##")
+      # Safely remove the word from the space-separated list
+      newChosenRepos=""
+      for r in ${chosenRepos}; do
+        if [ "$r" != "${chosenRepo}" ]; then
+          newChosenRepos="${newChosenRepos} $r"
+        fi
+      done
+      chosenRepos=$(strtrim "${newChosenRepos}")
     else
       invalidlist=$(/bin/printf "%s %s" "${invalidlist}" "${chosenRepo}")
     fi