New "cairo" output device pulls X dependency into main executable/library

[Till Kamppeter]

Binary package hint: ghostscript

Ghostscript has a mechanism to modularize the X display drivers to make the core executable ("gs") and/or the core library ("libgs") of Ghostscript not depending on X, so that it does not pull the X libraries on X-less servers. Now with version 8.63 this facility gets worthless due to the new "cairo" output device which pulls X through the dependencies of libcairo.

My suggestion to fix this problem is to move the "cairo" output device into the module of X output devices or into its own module to give the needed flexibility for distribution packaging.

This prevents us from packaging a full-featured Ghostscript and an X-less Ghostscript without making two core executables/libraries of ghostscript.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

For the time being, until upstream bug 690009 (http://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=690009) gets fixed, we will disable the "cairo" output device using a patch as suggested in upstream bug 689999 (http://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=689999). This will be done in the next release of the ghostscript package (0ubuntu3).

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ghostscript - 8.63.dfsg.1-0ubuntu3

---------------
ghostscript (8.63.dfsg.1-0ubuntu3) intrepid; urgency=low

  * debian/rules: Fixed typo (LP: #256975).
  * debian/ghostscript.links: s/8.62/8.63/
  * debian/patches/35_disable_libcairo.dpatch: Added possibility to
    compile Ghostscript without the "cairo" output device. The device
    is still in experimental state and with its dependency on libcairo
    it pulls in a dependency on X.
  * debian/control, debian/rules: Build Ghostscript without the "cairo"
    output device (LP: #256859).

 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:10:22 +0200