Hi Marc,

Yes, it seems to be fixed now on my current system (Ubuntu 16.04.5).
On invoking DoFont with a non-existent font, a sample response is:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS>/xyz DoFont
Querying operating system for font files...
Can't find (or can't open) font file %rom%Resource/Font/xyz.
Can't find (or can't open) font file xyz.
Didn't find this font on the system!
Substituting font Courier for xyz.
Loading NimbusMonoPS-Regular font from
%rom%Resource/Font/NimbusMonoPS-Regular... 4619540 3276395 9786160
4453839 1 done.
>>showpage, press <return> to continue<<
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

no hang, and a font is displayed in the 'ghostscript' window.

So seems to be working correctly in an expected way.

Cheers,
Lionel

On Tue, 2 Oct 2018 at 15:05, Marc Deslauriers
<email address hidden> wrote:
>
> Hello, thanks for reporting this issue.
> Ghostscript has been updated to 9.25 in current releases of Ubuntu.
>
> Could you please verify that your issue has been resolved, and update
> this bug accordingly?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> ** Changed in: ghostscript (Ubuntu)
>        Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1359715
>
> Title:
>   Ghostscript runaway memory consumption during font search
>
> Status in ghostscript package in Ubuntu:
>   Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
>   Linux Mint 17 (Qiana), Cinnamon 64-bit, kernel 3.13.0-24-generic #47-Ubuntu SMP x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
>   Ghostscript version 9.10
>
>   When Ghostscript searches for a specified font, if that font is not
>   found in the Fontmap file, memory consumption shoots up, the system
>   starts swapping and hangs.
>
>   Tested on system (see above) with ~ 2GB memory.
>
>   A simple way to reproduce, is to use the following procedure to
>   attempt to display a font:
>
>   1) Invoke ghostscript on 'prfont.ps'
>
>   $ gs /usr/share/ghostscript/9.10/lib/prfont.ps
>   GPL Ghostscript 9.10 (2013-08-30)
>   Copyright (C) 2013 Artifex Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
>   This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file PUBLIC for details.
>   Loading NimbusRomNo9L-Regu font from /usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts/n021003l.pfb... 3896292 2355421 3853784 2540955 1 done.
>   GS>
>
>   2) At Ghostscript prompt, specify a random fontname - which we know
>   does not exist - to 'DoFont':
>
>   GS>/Somefont DoFont
>   Can't find (or can't open) font file /usr/share/ghostscript/9.10/Resource/Font/Somefont.
>   Can't find (or can't open) font file Somefont.
>   Querying operating system for font files...
>
>   Result: memory usage maxes out, system swaps and hangs.
>
>   I expected Ghostscript to conclude the font search (without
>   exhausating system resources!) and to report failure to locate the
>   specified font.
>
>   This problem always occurs, and affects any other program which
>   invokes ghostscript and triggers a font search.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ghostscript/+bug/1359715/+subscriptions