GhostScript 8.51

Tue Jun 28 19:05:08 UTC 2005

Rick Stevens wrote:

> Mark McCulligh wrote:
>
>> Rick Stevens wrote:
>>
>>> Mark McCulligh wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Group,
>>>>
>>>> I am trying to install GhostScript 8.51 on my RHEL 3 box.  I 
>>>> currently have version 7.x on the box installed using the rpm.  I 
>>>> cannot find a rpm that will work for GhostScript 8.51. (If someone 
>>>> knows of one let me know, PLEASE!)  I am going to try and install 
>>>> it by configuring from source.  I was wondering what is the best 
>>>> way to go about it. Do I just compile the source and it will update 
>>>> my rpm version of GhostScript.  Should I remove the rpm version 
>>>> first? It has lots of depends for I don't know if I can uninstall 
>>>> it without breaking something.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If you are posting a message with a different subject, please post a 
>>> NEW
>>> message.  Do NOT reply to an existing message and simply change the
>>> subject.  That's called "thread hijacking" and it's highly frowned 
>>> upon,
>>> Mark.  Since I've never seen a post from you before, we'll let it slide
>>> this time.  ;-)
>>>
>>> However, to answer your question, first be aware of the fact that RH
>>> won't support any issues you have with the new Ghostscript.  RH only
>>> supports items that come from their up2date servers.
>>>
>>> Now, how to build it:  You should read any README or INSTALL files that
>>> come with the source tarball for dependencies and such and make sure 
>>> you
>>> have those items installed first.
>>>
>>> Next, the general process for building and installing programs from
>>> source is this sequence:
>>>
>>>     $ cd /package/source/dir
>>>     $ ./configure
>>>     $ make
>>>     $ su
>>>     # make install
>>>
>>> There are usually a number of options you can give to the configure
>>> scripts, such as the directory you want it to install into, enabling
>>> different options, etc.  "./configure --help" will usually list these
>>> options.
>>>
>>> You should also watch the output of configure fairly carefully.  Look
>>> for any errors regarding missing packages, libraries and such.  Fix
>>> those before you go to the "make" step.  You want "configure" to run as
>>> cleanly as possible.
>>>
>>> Most packages will default to installing into /usr/local.  This makes
>>> it fairly easy to delete if you want to.  Some programs also have a
>>> "make uninstall" option (you'd have to look at the Makefile generated
>>> by the configure program to see).
>>>
>>> Should you decide to install it in the normal Red Hat spot by using the
>>> "--basedir=" options (thereby overwriting the version from the RPM),
>>> make sure you have the original RPM file saved somewhere.  That way, 
>>> you
>>> can reinstall the RPM over the top of the new file by doing:
>>>
>>>     # rpm -Uvh --force name-of-rpm-file.rpm
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
>>> - VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
>>> -                                                                    -
>>> -                   Never try to outstubborn a cat.                  -
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
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>>> Subject: unsubscribe
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks Rick, I didn't mean to "thread hijacking" I will remember that.
>
>
> No problem.
>
>> When replacing a package that was originally installed using rpm and 
>> you upgrade by compiling from source.  Is the rpm version replaced?
>
>
> No.  rpm depends on its database (/var/lib/rpm/__db.00*).  Installing
> from a compiled source tarball does not affect the database, so rpm will
> continue to report the old rpm version of the package.  It doesn't know
> that a new one was installed.
>
>>                                                                 I 
>> know there will be orphan files has the two will most likely install 
>> files in different locations.  But me fear is that both Ghostscript 7 
>> and Ghostscript 8 are running at the same time and will conflict with 
>> each other down the road.
>
>
> Well, if you install in /usr/local, you can have both.  The trick is to
> see which one would get invoked when run when you enter "ghostscript".
> That's governed by your "PATH" environment variable ("echo $PATH" to
> see what it is now).  If you don't specify a path to the executable, the
> system walks down the path looking for a match.  The first one it finds
> is the one it runs.  You can change the path order by editing various
> files in /etc ("/etc/profile", "/etc/bashrc", etc.) and your local
> "~/.bashrc" files.
>
>> PS Yes I know RH will not support the newer version of Ghostscript, 
>> but a client needs the newer version.
>
>
> No problem.  I just wanted to make sure you were aware of that issue.
> Some people don't realize it and get, uhm, shall we say "annoyed" at Red
> Hat. :-p
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
> - VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
> -                                                                    -
> -           "I understand Windows 2000 has a Y2K problem."           -
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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> Subject: unsubscribe

Thanks Rick,

I got Ghostscript 8.51 installed from source, and it comes up before ver 
7.07 does when I run gs.  (I checked the PATH, like you recommended)

Would it be recommend to do a rpm -e --no-deps ghostscript-7.07 to 
remove the rpm version even if there is dependencies on it. OR just 
leave the rpm version allow.

Mark.

-- 
___________________________________________
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