\input texinfo
@comment $Id: ghostscript.texi,v 1.1 2005/12/08 13:41:59 jemarch Exp $
@comment %**start of header

@include version.texi

@copying
This is the @value{EDITION} edition of the @cite{GNU Ghostscript
Manual}, updated for GNU ghostscript version @value{GSVER}.

Copyright @copyright{} 1996-2002 artofcode LLC

Copyright @copyright{} 2005 Jos@'e E. Marchesi


@quotation
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
@end quotation
@end copying

@direntry
* GNU ghostscript: (gnu-ghostscript).    The GNU PostScript and PDF interpreter.
@end direntry

@titlepage
@sp 6
@center @titlefont{GNU Ghostscript Manual}
@sp 4
@center @value{EDITION} Edition, Updated for GNU Ghostscript Version @value{GSVER}.
@sp 5
@center artofcode LLC
@center Jos@'e E. Marchesi
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
@insertcopying

@end titlepage
@page
@ifnottex
@node Top
@top GNU Ghostscript

GNU Ghostscript - The GNU Postscript and PDF interpreter.

@insertcopying
@end ifnottex

@menu

@end menu


@contents

@node An overview of GNU Ghostscript
@chapter An overview of GNU Ghostscript

Ghostscript is the name of a set of software that provides:

@itemize @minus
@item
An interpreter for the @trademark{PostScript} language and the Adobe
@trademark{Portable Document Format} (@acronym{PDF} -- sometimes
confused with Acrobat, Adobe's @acronym{PDF} browser and editor
product).
@item
Input modules (utilities) for reading a variety of raster formats,
including @acronym{CMYK}, @acronym{GIF}, @acronym{JFIF}
(@acronym{JPEG}), @acronym{MIFF},
@acronym{PBM}/@acronym{PGM}/@acronym{PPM} and @acronym{PCX}.
@item
Output modules (drivers) for a wide variety of window systems (including
X Window and Microsoft Windows), raster file formats, and printers, as
well as a @acronym{PDF} output module that implements functions similar
to Adobe's @trademark{Acrobat} @trademark{Distiller} product.
@item
The GNU Ghostscript library, a set of procedures to implement the
graphics and filtering capabilities that are primitive operations in the
PostScript language and in @acronym{PDF}.
@end itemize

In simple terms, this means that GNU Ghostscript can read a PostScript
or @acronym{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 previewers, with GNU 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.

@node How is GNU Ghostscript licensed
@section How is GNU Ghostscript licensed? Where can I find it?

GNU Ghostscript is distributed with the GNU General Public License,
which allows free use, and free copying and redistribution under certain
conditions (including commercial distribution). You can always get the
current version of GNU Ghostscript by Internet ftp from:

@center
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ghostscript/
@end center

or from any GNU mirror. 

For a more complete list of sites, including sistes outside the U.S.,
write to @email{gnu@@gnu.org}. The Free Software Foundation makes GNU
Ghostscript available on tape and CD-ROM.


@node Libraries obtained from other parties
@section Libraries obtained from other parties

The GNU Ghostscript source code distribution, and the GNU Ghostscript
executable code, include libraries obtained from other parties. All the
source files mentioned in this section are in the GNU Ghostscript and
third-party library source kits. The documentation of how to build GNU
Ghostscript tells where to get these libraries and how to unpack them.

@table @strong
@item The Independent JPEG Group (IJG) Library
The executable versions of GNU Ghostscript are based in part on the work
of the Independent JPEG Group. For more information, see @file{jpeg.mak}
in the GNU Ghostscript source directory and @file{README} in the @file{jpeg}
subdirectory of the GNU Ghostscript source code. The homepage of the
Independent JPEG Group is @url{http://www.ijg.org/}
@item The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Library
The Portable Network Graphics (@acronym{PNG}) library created by Dave
Martindale, Guy Eric Schalnat, Paul Schmidt, and Tim Wegner, of Group
42, Inc. For more information, see @file{libpng.mak} in the main GNU
Ghostscript source directory, and @file{README} and @file{png.h} in the
@file{libpng} subdirectory of the GNU Ghostscript source code. The main
web page of the Portable Network Graphics Library is
@url{http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/}.
@item The zlib library
The zlib library created by Jean-lup Gailly and Mark Adler. For more
information, see @file{zlib.mak} in the main GNU Ghostscript source
directory, and @file{README} in the @file{zlib} subdirectory of the GNU
Ghostscript source code. The web page of the zlib library is
@url{http://www.gzip.org/zlib/}. 
@end table

These libraries do @strong{NOT} fall under the GNU General Public
License; they come with their own licenses, which also allow free use
and redistribution under appropiate circumstances and which appear in
the files mentioned just above. These libraries are entierly original
works of their respective authors, and are provided @strong{AS IS} with
@strong{NO WARRANTY} and @strong{NO SUPPORT}.

@node What platforms does GNU Ghostscript run on
@section What platforms does GNU Ghostscript run on?

GNU Ghostscript is written entirely in C (with some optional
assembly-language accelerators for DOS platforms), with special care
taken to make it run properly on systems of either byte order
(``low-endian'' and ``high-endian'') and of various word lengths. GNU
Ghostscript is known to run on the following platforms families:

@itemize @bullet
@item
GNU systems based on the Linux kernel, and running X Window.
@item
A wide variety of Unix systems using X Window version 11, releases 4, 5,
and 6, including

@itemize @minus
@item
Sun-3, Sun-4, Sun-386i, Sun SPARCStation with SunOS 4 and Solaris 2.[56]
@item
Generic Intel-based systems running GNU/Linux, 386/ix, 386BSD, FreeBSD,
ISC Unix, SCO Unix, and Solaris
@item
H-P 9000/300 and 9000/800
@item
DECStation 2100, 3100, and 5xxx
@item
Alpha systems running Digital Unix
@item
VAX running Ultrix
@item
Sequent Symmetry
@item 
Convex C1 and C2
@item
Tektronix 4300
@item
SGI Iris Indigo
@item
4.4BSD Unix systems (FreeBSD on Intel)
@item
NetBSD on Intel, Sun SPARC, Motorola M68K (Apple, Amiga, Sun, H-P), and VAX
@end itemize
@item
Sun workstations running SunView
@item
VAX and Alpha systems running OpenVMS with X11 compiled with either DEC
C or gcc.
@item
Macintosh operating systems
@end itemize

It is very likely that GNU Ghostscript will run under other versions of
DOS, and other versions of Unix that support X11, but it has not been
tested in these environments. 


@node How to build GNU Ghostscript
@chapter How to build GNU Ghostscript

@node General overview
@section General overview

This chapter describes how to build a GNU Ghostscript executable from
source code. There are four major steps to building GNU Ghostscript: 

@itemize @bullet
@item
Acquire the compressed archive files of source code for GNU Ghostscript
and the required third-party libraries.
@item
Unpack the archive files into the GNU Ghostscript directory and
correctly named subdirectories.
@item
Configure the build to match your system and desired configuration
options. 
@item
Invoke ``make'' to build the software.
@end itemize

The remainder of this document describes each of these steps in
detail. Note that some of this process is platform-dependent. After
building GNU Ghostscript you must then install it; for that, see the
installation instructions on the chapter below.

 



@node How to install GNU Ghostscript
@chapter How to install GNU Ghostscript

@bye
