Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!gtoal
From: gtoal@castle.ed.ac.uk (G Toal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: ghostscript
Message-ID: <10390@castle.ed.ac.uk>
Date: 20 May 91 20:01:43 GMT
References: <2507@cybaswan.UUCP>
Distribution: comp.sys.acorn
Organization: Edinburgh University
Lines: 20

In article <2507@cybaswan.UUCP> cs9h9tts@cybaswan.UUCP (t.simpson) writes:
>Excuse my ignorance, but we haven't got comp.bin.acorn working here in 
>Swansea yet, but what is Ghostscript, everyone seems to be going on 
>about it..

It is the Gnu-project's PostScript clone.  It reads postscript files
and converts them to bitmaps.  Most implementations offer an interactove
postscript interpreter and will display the created bitmaps on the
screen; I believe there are also versions which are used as the engine
on top of a non-postscript laser printer.  For instance, I suspect you
could use Ghostscript to turn your cheap 'Laser Direct' printer into
a postscript one.

The only problems I've heard with it are to do with font compatibility;
I don't know how David is handling that -- using Acorn fonts, X fonts,
genuine downloaded postscript Type I or Type III fonts, or all of the
above :-)  [Also I suspect TeX's pk fonts? If not, why not? :-)]

Graham
PS This is of course hearsay - I haven't got a copy myself yet...