SPECIAL NOTE FOR UNIX USERS:
============================
If you're installing this release of FreeType on a system that
already uses release 2.0.5 (or even an older version), you'll
need to perform a few special steps to ensure that everything
goes well:
I. Enable the TrueType bytecode hinter if you need it:
------------------------------------------------------
The TrueType bytecode interpreter is disabled in all
public releases of the FreeType packages for patents
reasons (see www.freetype.org/patents.html for more
details).
However, many Linux distributions do enable the
interpreter in the FreeType packages (DEB/RPM/etc..) they
produce for their platforms. If you're using TrueType fonts
on your system, you'll most probably want to enable it
manually by doing the following:
- open the file "include/freetype/config/ftoption.h"
- locate a line that says:
#undef TT_CONFIG_OPTION_BYTECODE_ITNERPRETER
- change it to:
#define TT_CONFIG_OPTION_BYTECODE_INTERPRETER
of course, this must be done _before_ compiling the
library
II. Determine the correct installation path:
--------------------------------------------
By default, the source package will install the library
in "/usr/local". However, many Unix distributions now
install the library in "/usr", since FreeType is becoming
a critical system component
If FreeType is already installed on your system, type
freetype-config --prefix
on the command line. This should return the installation
path to use below (e.g. "/usr" or "/usr/local"). Otherwise,
simply use "/usr"
then, to build and install the library, type:
make setup unix CFG="--prefix=<yourprefix>"
make
make install (as root)
where "<yourprefix>" must be replaced by the prefix returned
by the "freetype-config" command.
III. Take care of XFree86 4:
----------------------------
Certain recent Linux distributions will install _several_
versions of FreeType on your system.. For example, on a
fresh Mandrake 8.1 system, you'll find the following files:
/usr/lib/libfreetype.so which links to
/usr/lib/libfreetype.6.1.0.so
and:
/usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.so which links to
/usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.6.0.so
note that these files correspond to two distinct versions of
the library ! It seems that this surprising issue is due to
the install scripts of recent XFree86 servers (from 4.1.0)
which irremediably install their own (dated) version of
the library in "/usr/X11R6/lib"
In certain _rare_ cases, you may experience minor problems if
you install this release of the library in "/usr" only, namely,
that certain applications will not benefit from the bug fixes
and rendering improvements you'd expect..
There are two good ways to deal with such nasty systems:
- install the library _twice_, in "/usr" and in "/usr/X11R6"
(you'll need to do that each time you install a new
FreeType release though)
- change the link in /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.so to point
to /usr/lib/libfreetype.so, and get rid of
/usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.6.0.so
The FreeType Team is not responsible for this mess, so please contact
either the XFree86 development team or your Linux distributor to help
clear this issue.., or if the above information doesn't help..
