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author | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2005-12-28 00:07:27 +0000 |
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committer | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2005-12-28 00:07:27 +0000 |
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parent | 08ab8dce83f53b0f915cb66a37bbc8478b22c307 (diff) |
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diff --git a/Master/xemtex/doc/ghostscript/New-user.htm b/Master/xemtex/doc/ghostscript/New-user.htm new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..125058b234e --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/xemtex/doc/ghostscript/New-user.htm @@ -0,0 +1,592 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Background information for new users of Ghostscript</title> +<!-- $Id: New-user.htm,v 1.30.2.14.2.6 2003/05/17 14:39:00 giles Exp $ --> +<!-- Originally: new-user.txt --> +<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="gs.css" title="Ghostscript Style"> +</head> + +<body> +<!-- [1.0 begin visible header] ============================================ --> + +<!-- [1.1 begin headline] ================================================== --> + +<h1>Background information for new users of Ghostscript</h1> + +<!-- [1.1 end headline] ==================================================== --> + +<!-- [1.2 begin table of contents] ========================================= --> + +<h2>Table of contents</h2> + +<ul> +<li><a href="#Overview">An overview of Ghostscript</a> +<ul> +<li><a href="#Find_Ghostscript">How is Ghostscript licensed? Where can I find it?</a> +<ul> +<li><a href="#GNU_gs">GNU Ghostscript</a> +</ul> +<li><a href="#Third-party_libraries">Libraries obtained from other parties</a> +<li><a href="#Support">What if I want support?</a> +<li><a href="#Commercial_use">What about commercial use?</a> +<li><a href="#Platforms">What platforms does Ghostscript run on?</a> +<ul> +<li><a href="#Third-party_platforms">Ports done by users</a> +</ul> +</ul> +<li><a href="#Related_work">Related work</a> +<ul> +<li><a href="#Drivers">Drivers</a> +<li><a href="#Previewers">Previewers</a> +<ul> +<li><a href="#Previewer_X">Previewers for X Windows</a> +<li><a href="#Previewer_DOS-Win">Previewers for DOS and MS Windows</a> +<li><a href="#Previewer_GNULinux">A previewer for GNU/Linux</a> +</ul> +<li><a href="#Related_programs">Related programs</a> +</ul> +<li><a href="#Need_help">If you need help</a> +<ul> +<li><a href="#Reporting_problems">Reporting problems</a> +</ul> +<li><a href="#Contacting_us">Contacting Ghostscript headquarters</a> +<li><a href="#How_to_help">How you can help improve Ghostscript</a> +<li><a href="#Acknowledgments">Acknowledgements</a> +</ul> + +<!-- [1.2 end table of contents] =========================================== --> + +<!-- [1.3 begin hint] ====================================================== --> + +<p>For other information, see the <a href="Readme.htm">Ghostscript +overview</a>. + +<!-- [1.3 end hint] ======================================================== --> + +<hr> + +<!-- [1.0 end visible header] ============================================== --> + +<!-- [2.0 begin contents] ================================================== --> + +<h2><a name="Overview"></a>An overview of Ghostscript</h2> + +<p> +Ghostscript is the name of a set of software that provides: + +<ul> +<li>An interpreter for the <b>PostScript</b><small><sup>TM</sup></small> +language and the Adobe <b>Portable Document Format</b> (<b>PDF</b> -- +sometimes confused with Acrobat, Adobe's PDF browser and editor product); + +<li>Input modules (utilities) for reading a variety of raster formats, +including <b>CMYK</b>, <b>GIF</b>, <b>JFIF</b> (<b>JPEG</b>), <b>MIFF</b>, +<b>PBM</b>/<b>PGM</b>/<b>PPM</b>, and <b>PCX</b>; + +<li>Output modules (drivers) for a wide variety of window systems (including +X Windows and Microsoft Windows), raster file formats, and printers, as well +as a PDF output module that implements functions similar to Adobe's +Acrobat<small><sup>TM</sup></small> Distiller<small><sup>TM</sup></small> +product; and + +<li>The Ghostscript library, a set of procedures to implement the graphics +and filtering capabilities that are primitive operations in the PostScript +language and in PDF. +</ul> + +<p> +In simple terms, this means that Ghostscript can read a PostScript or PDF +file and display the results on the screen or convert them into a form you +can print on a non-PostScript printer. Especially together with several +popular <a href="#Previewers">previewers</a>, with Ghostscript you can view +or print an entire document or even isolated pages, even if your computer +doesn't have Display PostScript and your printer doesn't handle PostScript +itself. + +<h3><a name="Find_Ghostscript"></a>How is Ghostscript licensed? Where can I find it?</h3> + +<p> +Ghostscript is a copyrighted work (artofcode LLC owns the copyright); +it is not shareware or in the public domain. Different versions of it are +distributed with three different licenses: + +<h4><a name="GNU_gs"></a>GNU Ghostscript</h4> + +<p> +GNU Ghostscript is distributed under the terms of the GNU <a +href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">General Public License</a>, +which allows free use, and free copying and redistribution under certain +conditions (including, in some cases, commercial distribution). +You can always get the current version of GNU Ghostscript by Internet FTP +from any of the many GNU distribution sites. The GNU home ftp site is + +<blockquote> +<a href="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/" +class="offsite">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/</a> +</blockquote> + +<p> +For a more complete list of sites, including sites outside the U.S. and +other ways of obtaining GNU software, contact +the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. + +<p><a name="CTAN"></a> +Versions of Ghostscript are also available from sites in the +Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN), in a tree based at +/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/, which you can find at these principal +CTAN distribution sites ("participating hosts") as of mid-1998: + +<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> +<tr> <td><a +href="ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/" +class="offsite">ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/</a> + <td> + <td>Massachusetts, U.S.A. +<tr> <td><a href="ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/" +class="offsite">ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/</a> + <td> + <td>Deutschland +<tr> <td><a +href="ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/" +class="offsite">ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/support/ghostscript/</a> + <td> + <td>United Kingdom +</table></blockquote> + +<p> +CTAN has more than fifty mirror sites around the world. For information +about CTAN sites, including how to use them over the World Wide Web, visit +<a href="http://www.ctan.org/" class="offsite">ctan.org</a> or get +the file <b><tt>CTAN.sites</tt></b> from any CTAN server, for +instance + +<blockquote> +<a href="ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/CTAN.sites" +class="offsite">ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/CTAN.sites</a> +</blockquote> + +<hr> + +<h3><a name="Third-party_libraries"></a>Libraries obtained from other parties</h3> + +<p> +The Ghostscript source code distribution, and the Ghostscript executable +code, include libraries obtained from other parties. All the source files +mentioned in this section are in the Ghostscript and third-party library +source kits. The documentation of <a href="Make.htm">how to build +Ghostscript</a> tells <a href="Make.htm#Acquiring">where to get these +libraries</a> and <a href="Make.htm#Unpack">how to unpack them</a>. + +<blockquote><dl> +<dt>The <a href="http://www.ijg.org/" class="offsite">Independent JPEG +Group</a> (IJG) +library +<dd>The executable versions of Ghostscript are based in part on the work of +the Independent JPEG Group. For more information, see +<b><tt>jpeg.mak</tt></b> in the main Ghostscript source directory and +<b><tt>README</tt></b> in the libjpeg source directory. + +<dt>The <a href="http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/" +class="offsite">Portable Network +Graphics</a> (PNG) library created by Dave Martindale, Guy Eric Schalnat, +Paul Schmidt, and Tim Wegner, of Group 42, Inc. +<dd>For more information, see <b><tt>libpng.mak</tt></b> in the main +Ghostscript source directory, and <b><tt>README</tt></b> and +<b><tt>png.h</tt></b> in the libpng source directory. + +<dt>The <a href="http://www.gzip.org/zlib/" +class="offsite">zlib</a> library +created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler +<dd>For more information, see <b><tt>zlib.mak</tt></b> in the main +Ghostscript source directory, and <b><tt>README</tt></b> in the +zlib source code. +</dl></blockquote> + +<p> +These libraries do not fall under the GPL but come with their own licenses, +which also allow free use and redistribution under appropriate +circumstances and which appear in the files mentioned just above. These +libraries are entirely original works of their respective authors, and are +provided as is with no warranty and no support. + +<hr> + +<h3><a name="Support"></a>What if I want support?</h3> + +<p> +Neither artofcode LLC nor any organization known to us currently offers +Ghostscript support for end-users -- that is, for people or companies who +just want to use Ghostscript and not redistribute it as part of a product. + +<p> +Nothing in the GNU license prevents anyone from providing +support for Ghostscript, either free or commercial. We would be happy to +include in the Ghostscript documentation the contact information for anyone +who wants to offer such support. + +<hr> + +<h3><a name="Platforms"></a>What platforms does Ghostscript run on?</h3> + +<p> +Ghostscript is written entirely in C, with special care taken to make it +portable to a wide variety of systems. It is actively maintained on many +unix-like operating systems, Microsoft Windows, Apple's MacOS and +OpenVMS and can easily be ported to others. Please see <a +href="Make.htm">Making Ghostscript</a> for details on the build process +and hints for various platforms. + +<hr> + +<h2><a name="Related_work"></a>Related work</h2> + +<h3><a name="Drivers"></a>Drivers</h3> + +<p> +A number of people have created Ghostscript drivers that they prefer to +distribute directly, rather than including them in the Ghostscript +distributions. Please refer to <a +href="http://www.linuxprinting.org/" +class="offsite">www.linuxprinting.org</a> or your favorite search engine +for +relevant examples. + +<h3><a name="Previewers"></a>Previewers</h3> + +<p> +The Ghostscript user interface is very primitive, so several people have +contributed screen previewers with better user interfaces. + +<h4><a name="Previewer_X"></a>Previewers for X Windows</h4> + +<dl> +<dt><b><tt>GSPreview</tt></b> +<dd>For information on GSPreview, contact Richard Hesketh +<<a href="mailto:rlh@ukc.ac.uk">rlh@ukc.ac.uk</a>>. +</dl> + +<h4><a name="Previewer_DOS-Win"></a>Previewers for DOS and MS Windows</h4> + +<dl> +<dt><b><tt>psv</tt></b> +<dd><b><tt>PSV</tt></b>, another keyboard-based PostScript viewing package +for DOS, appears to be redistributable with no restrictions. It was once +available from + +<blockquote> +ftp://puccini.ujf-grenoble.fr/pub/contrib-ps/DOS-PSV/ +</blockquote> +</dl> + +<h4><a name="Previewer_GNULinux"></a>A previewer for GNU/Linux</h4> + +<dl> +<dt><b><tt>BMV</tt></b> <dd>Jan Kybic has created a Ghostscript-based +bitmap previewing program for GNU/Linux called <b><tt>BMV</tt></b>, which +doesn't use X Windows but is based on <b><tt>svgalib</tt></b>. He says +there is a port of <b><tt>BMV</tt></b> for SCO Unix by William Bader. +<b><tt>BMV</tt></b> is available from + +<blockquote> +<a +href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/graphics/viewers/svga/bmv-1.2.tgz" +class="offsite">ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/graphics/viewers/svga/bmv-1.2.tgz</a> +</blockquote> +</dl> + +<hr> + +<h3><a name="Related_programs"></a>Related programs</h3> + +<dl> +<dt><b><tt>genscript</tt></b> +<dd><b><tt>genscript</tt></b> is a free replacement for the +<b><tt>enscript</tt></b> program. <b><tt>genscript</tt></b> converts plain +text files to PostScript and sends the generated PostScript output to the +specified printer or to a file. <b><tt>genscript</tt></b> can be easily +extended to handle different output media, and it has many options which can +be used to customize printouts, including 2-up printing, pagination, complex +headers, and many more. You can find the current version at + +<blockquote> +<a href="http://www.iki.fi/~mtr/genscript/" +class="offsite">http://www.iki.fi/~mtr/genscript/</a> (home page)<br> +<a href="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/" +class="offsite">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/enscript/</a>enscript-*.tar.gz +</blockquote> + +<dt><b><tt>pstotext</tt></b> +<dd>A good free utility <b><tt>pstotext</tt></b> uses Ghostscript to extract +plain text from PostScript files. It is much better than the +<b><tt>ps2ascii</tt></b> utility distributed with Ghostscript. You can read +the <b><tt>pstotext</tt></b> documentation at + +<blockquote> +<a +href="http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper/manpages/pstotext.1.html" +class="offsite">http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper/manpages/pstotext.1.html</a> +</blockquote> + +<p> +and download the <b><tt>pstotext</tt></b> kit from + +<blockquote> +<a href="http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper/pstotext.html" +class="offsite">http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper/pstotext.html</a> +</blockquote> + +<p> +<b><tt>pstotext</tt></b> is unsupported, but the authors, +Paul McJones +<<a href="mailto:paul.mcjones@acm.org">paul.mcjones@acm.org</a>> +and Andrew Birrell +<<a href="mailto:birrell@pa.dec.com">birrell@pa.dec.com</a>>, are +happy to have your questions and comments either by e-mail or <a href="http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper/comments.html" +class="offsite">here</a> + +<p> +For more information about the authors' Virtual Paper project, which +attempts to make on-line reading of lengthy material (like research +reports, manuals, or entire books) comfortable, read: + +<blockquote> +<a href="http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper" +class="offsite">http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/virtualpaper</a> +</blockquote> + +<dt><b><tt>PreScript</tt></b> +<dd>This is another good free utility that uses Ghostscript to extract text +from PostScript or PDF files. It can also generate very simple HTML, +keeping some of the formatting. It is unsupported, but is the product of an +active research project. Its home page is: + +<blockquote> +<a href="http://www.nzdl.org/html/prescript.html" +class="offsite">http://www.nzdl.org/html/prescript.html</a> +</blockquote> + +</dl> + +<hr> + +<h2><a name="Need_help"></a>If you need help</h2> + +<p> +The list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) isn't updated very often, so +it may be somewhat out of date. It's available from + +<blockquote> +<a href="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/faq.htm" +class="offsite">http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/faq.htm</a><br> +<a href="ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/faq.htm" +class="offsite">ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/faq.htm</a> +</blockquote> + +<p> +or by AFS from + +<blockquote> +/afs/cs.wisc.edu/p/mirror/pub/mirrors/ghost/faq.htm +</blockquote> + +<p> +CompuServe announced in December 1995 that the Graphics Support Forum offers +Message Section and Library 21, "Ghostscript", for technical assistance with +Ghostscript. Ghostscript is available for downloading in Library 21, +"Ghostscript." To access the Graphics Support Forum, <b><tt>GO +GRAPHSUP</tt></b>. This service has no connection with the main Ghostscript +developers. + +<p> +If you have problems with Ghostscript and you have access to the +Internet, we suggest to post your question to one of these Usenet +newsgroups: + +<dl> +<dt><b><tt><a href="news:gnu.ghostscript.bug">gnu.ghostscript.bug</a></tt></b> +<dd>if your question is about <b>GNU Ghostscript</b>. If you have access to Internet mail, but not Usenet news, +write to <b><tt>bug-ghostscript@gnu.org</tt></b>, which is equivalent to +posting to that newsgroup. + +<dt><b><tt><a href="news:comp.lang.postscript">comp.lang.postscript</a></tt></b> +<dd>if you have a general question about Ghostscript. Note +however that this newsgroup was not intended for Ghostscript +discussion <em>per se</em>. +</dl> + +<p> +There are hundreds of Ghostscript user sites all over the world, and another +user will often be able to help you. If you have trouble with a specific +device driver, look at <b><tt>devs.mak</tt></b> and +<b><tt>contrib.mak</tt></b> in the Ghostscript source directory to see in +which file the driver is defined. If it's defined in +<b><tt>contrib.mak</tt></b>, the list of contributed drivers, please contact +the author directly: the maintainers of Ghostscript can't help you with +user-maintained drivers. + +<h3><a name="Reporting_problems"></a>Reporting problems</h3> + +<p> +Please read <a href="Bug-info.htm">Bug-info.htm</a> for information about +reporting problems. + +<hr> + +<h2><a name="Contacting_us"></a>Contacting Ghostscript headquarters</h2> + +<p> +As of mid-September 2000, artofcode LLC is responsible for the future +development of Ghostscript. Please do not contact us if all you want is +help with Ghostscript! Ghostscript is +free, but our time is not. If you call for help, we will tell you politely +that we cannot answer your question. Ghostscript's documentation, while not +of commercial end-user quality, has been adequate for thousands of users +(for many of whom English is a foreign language), so the answer to your +question is very likely in it somewhere. <!-- ouch --> + +<p> +Here is our contact information: + +<blockquote><address> +Raph Levien<br> +artofcode LLC<br> +940 Tyler St. Studio 6<br> +Benicia, CA 94510<br> +tel/fax +1 707 746 6398<br> +<a href="mailto:raph@artofcode.com">raph@artofcode.com</a> +</address></blockquote> + +<h3>Aladdin Enterprises</h3> + +<p> +Aladdin Enterprises, the original authors of Ghostscript, is no +longer responsible for Ghostscript, but may be available for small +contract projects. Here is their contact information: + +<blockquote><address> +Aladdin Enterprises<br> +203 Santa Margarita Avenue<br> +Menlo Park, CA 94025 U.S.A.<br> ++1-650-322-1734 fax<br> +<a href="mailto:ghost@aladdin.com">ghost@aladdin.com</a><br> +<a href="http://www.ghostscript.com/" +class="offsite">http://www.ghostscript.com/</a> +</address></blockquote> + +<p> +If you want help with Ghostscript, or want to report a problem, please do +not contact us. We will not be able to help you. + +<hr> + +<h2><a name="How_to_help"></a>How you can help improve Ghostscript</h2> + +<p> +The most valuable thing you can do to help improve Ghostscript is to help +test it. We make three different grades of release available, each of +which needs a different kind of testing. + +<ul> +<li><em>Stable</em> releases are made available about every 9 months, after +a beta test period. Reporting problems as described <a +href="#Reporting_problems">above</a> often results in a fix being posted on +our Web site. +</ul> + +<ul> +<li><em>Beta</em> releases are posted starting about 6 weeks before a +planned public release. These are candidates for public release, and need +intensive testing. +</ul> + +<ul> +<li><em>Development</em> releases are posted every few weeks. These are not +supposed to be good enough for general use, but testing them is still very +helpful, since it gets problems corrected before the intensive beta test +period. +</ul> + +<p> +You can always find the current public release and the current beta or +tester release on our <a href="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/">Web +site</a>. If you would like to be notified when new beta or tester releases +are posted, please <a href="#Contacting_us">contact us</a>. + +<p> +There are also some useful projects that we don't have enough resources to +work on, and with which we would appreciate help. See <a +href="Projects.htm">this list</a> for details. + +<hr> + +<h2><a name="Acknowledgments"></a>Acknowledgements</h2> + +<p> +Ghostscript was originally created, and through the year 2000 was primarily +developed and maintained, by L. Peter Deutsch, President of Aladdin +Enterprises (not to be confused with Peter J. Deutsch, founder of Bunyip +Information Systems Inc.). + +<p> +Special thanks are due to Russell Lang, for the +<b><tt>GSview for Windows</tt></b> and +<b><tt>PM GSview</tt></b> programs, and for contributing most of the code for +the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 environments; to Tim Theisen, for the +<b><tt>Ghostview</tt></b> program for X Windows and for major contributions +to, and assistance with support of, the code for the X Windows +environment; to Martin Fong and Mark Lentczner, for the first Macintosh +ports; to Pete Kaiser +<<a href="mailto:kaiser@acm.org">kaiser@acm.org</a>>, for redoing all +of the documentation in HTML; +and to the <a href="http://www.ijg.org/">Independent +JPEG Group</a>, to Group 42, Inc., and to Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler, +for creating the freely available libraries that Ghostscript uses. + +<p> +Special thanks are due to URW++ Design and Development Incorporated, of +Hamburg, Germany (<a href="http://www.urwpp.de/">http://www.urwpp.de/</a>) +for making a commercial-quality set of the 35 standard PostScript Type 1 +fonts available for free distribution under the GNU and Aladdin licenses, +and for updating them to include Adobe's expanded PostScript 3 character +set. + +<p> +Special thanks are due to Richard Stallman and the +<a href="http://www.gnu.org/" class="offsite">Free Software +Foundation</a> for originating +the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html" class="offsite">GNU +General Public +License</a>, for originally motivating Aladdin's interest in creating free +software, and for being the primary distributor of GNU Ghostscript on the +Internet. + +<p> +See also the <a href="Helpers.htm">list of the many other people</a> who have +contributed significantly to improving Ghostscript. + +<!-- [2.0 end contents] ==================================================== --> + +<!-- [3.0 begin visible trailer] =========================================== --> +<hr> + +<p> +<small>Copyright © 1996-2002 artofcode LLC. All rights +reserved.</small> + +<p> +This software is provided AS-IS with no warranty, either express or +implied. + +This software is distributed under license and may not be copied, +modified or distributed except as expressly authorized under the terms +of the license contained in the file LICENSE in this distribution. + +<p> +<small>Ghostscript version 7.07, 17 May 2003 + +<!-- [3.0 end visible trailer] ============================================= --> + +</body> +</html> |