Older blog entries for ghostgum (starting at number 2)

To wardv, we should also compare it to the number of security fixes for Linux. The Red Hat Linux 8.0 errata now contains 16 security advisories. The major difference I see is not the number of fixes, but the ability to verify if holes exist or not. I use both Linux and Windows XP.

My favourite from the Windows XP install was the MS claim "Fastest Booting Windows ever". I've got VMware with several different Windows installations. The winner of the Windows booting race is DOS/Windows 3.1 :-)

I'm been feeling a bit burnt out after the ghostscript 8.0 release. I contributed a few bug fixes, new features and did platform testing for Windows and OS/2. I only work on this stuff part time and getting patches to the appropriate standard and through the review process often takes more time than I wish. Other things get put aside. I'm hoping that this Christmas break I'll be able to finish off my GhostPCL updates for Windows and gtk+ display, and then get GSview printing and PDF writing on Linux, and then do the MFC code for GSview. My rule for coding is to maximise the platform independent code, and minimise the MFC and gtk+ code.

epstool 3.0 is released. This is used for manipulation of Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files, particularly adding and removing preview images. Other tricks include adjusting the bounding box, converting EPS to a bitmap, and fixing some common faults in Desktop Color Separation files. Much of the code is common with the rewrite of GSview. Sources, Linux i386 executable and Windows executable are available.

The rewritten GSview on Linux now displays well. Next step is to add the user interface for PostScript to PDF, so you can set distiller parameters. There are still many user interface issues as a result of migrating to gtk+ 2.0, but it's useable enough that I haven't run the old version on Linux for months. It's available in a public CVS if anyone wants to test it.

I'm rewriting GSview (PostScript previewer based on Ghostscript) and I am currently working on the gtk+ version. The old version uses gtk+ 1.2 and the Aladdin Free Public Licence, while the rewritten version uses gtk+ 2 and the GPL. If you are familiar with gtk+ 2, and are willing to answer the occasional programming question, please send me email at gsview at ghostgum.com.au. I'll try to make sure I RTFM before sending questions.

If you are interested in trying an early version of the code, see cvs.ghostscript.com and look for the GSview tree. Suggestions for improvement to the old GSview, or the new rewrite are always appreciated.