As a further contribution to this subject, the latest versions of
ghostscript and friends are available as:
NFS linux-rep:/linux/mirrors/redhat/contib/libc6/i386/ghost*; and
NFS linux-rep:/linux/mirrors/redhat/contib/libc6/noarch/ghost*
These provide much better support for PDF than the gs v3.33 which is
packaged with Fermi Linux. I understand this old version was on RedHat's
CD because later versions are under a more restrictive license than the
GPL which limits or prevents commercial for-profit distribution (the
RedHat CD, for example).
I would actually request (Connie) that the people working on the Fermi
Linux distribution check the legalities and include these packages on the
CD if possible as anyone with any desires in this direction will want them
anyway.
There is one minor complication: the pdf support for ghostscript comes
with a file called `pdf_sec.ps' which does nothing. This should handle
encrypted PDF files (which may or may not have passwords attached) and the
functional file cannot be exported from the US due to its government's
wacky encryption export laws. For those people who are interested, the
file can be obtained from the following site in Australia:
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/pdfencrypt/
Obviously though, the working version of the file cannot be included in
the Fermi distribution if there's a chance that it will be used abroad
(shakes head and sighs in a resigned sort of way).
Hope this is all useful.
Cheers,
Chris.
-- Chris Green. HEP, Purdue University. CDF SVXII project. Based at Fermilab. MAIL greenc@fnal.gov; PHONE (630) 840-2308