Ghostscript is a free Ghostscript interpreter. It implements the Ghostscript
language, which is (extremely) similar to Adobe Systems' PostScript©
language. It is capable of displaying the graphical results on an X11 screen,
(although your are better off using the ghostview
interface). It can also read and display Adobe's .pdf files.
It can write its results in any PBMPLUS image format or in a panoply
of printer formats.
At ESAT, gs is a pseudo-user for ghostscript. So you can look around in its home directory ~gs. Gs and all related goodies are automatically accessible if your path includes /freeware/bin.
The current version is AFPL gs 8.71 for all supported platforms linux-i386 and linux-x86_64. It was compiled with gcc.
On all platforms, gs all standard (real and pseudo) drivers are installed.
If you need additional drivers for specific applications, just mail me, and I'll see what I can do.
In all but the most exotic cases, none ... If your DISPLAY shell variable is not or incorrectly set, you will have to specify -display <your-screen-name>. If you are concerned with security, you might be interested in -dSAFER, which disables some internal file manipulation functions.
You find a detailed description of ghostscript here.
Try the manual page, man gs first. If man does not find the manual page, your MANPATH is not set, or set uncorrectly.
Most common information can be retrieved via the readme.
You can also try the Ghostscript home page or check the gnu.ghostscript.bug newsgroup.
For the moment, there are no known bugs.
You can subscribe to the eghost mailing list, by sending a mail with a single line sub <your real name> to the list server. This list is the forum to ask (cite specific) questions, make suggestions and remain informed on changes and upcoming changes to the local versions of Ghostscript.
At ESAT, Ghostscript is currently maintained by B. DeKnuydt. You can mail problem reports to Bert.DeKnuydt@esat.kuleuven.be.