GhostScript 8.51

[Rick Stevens]

Mark McCulligh wrote:
> 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
>>>>
>>>
>>> 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
> 
> 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.

I'd leave it alone.  It's not going to hurt you particularly and, in
case you do other RPM installs, any dependencies would be satisfied.
So long as you understand the path stuff, you should be OK.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-  What's small, yellow and very, VERY dangerous?  The root canary!  -
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