Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Tue, 16 May 2006 3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:

> sindi keesan wrote:
> > Did you find a way to make SWflash work with a later
> > libX11.so.6, in BL3?
>
> Yes.  I installed more up-to-date X libraries (a full set).
> Both SWflash and the new xpdf worked, but all the old X
> binaries failed (including xinit).  It was no longer
> possible to boot X using startx.

Could you then also replace xinit (which startx script uses) and rxvt with 
versions from a glibc Slackware?  And use BL2 icewm and Slackware 7.1 xli 
and other X utilities? Did I miss anything else besides Magicpoint?

> > If I replace only libX11.so.6 with the one from SW7.1
>
> No, if you replace one X library, you should replace the
> full set.
Yes, icewm won't work otherwise.

> > maybe I can get away with just replacing libX11so.6
>
> No.
>
> > or having another version of it at which I somehow point xpdf
>
> ldd shows you that xpdf looks for libX11.so.6

Yes, but I could point one of the netpbm programs at another library 
location than the standard one when I had two libpng.so files of the same 
number. (Before I managed to compile BL2 netpbm).


> ), but how do I start xpdf without an rxvt or icewm,
>
> Permanent fix:  use a glibc2 version of rxvt, icewm, xinit, etc.

Would you want to put together a (large) package for upgrading BL3 to 
these libraries and programs (without icewm, for which you already 
provided a package) or at least full instructions for which packages from 
a later Slackware to install (xbin.tgz, xlib.tgz....)?

> Temporary fix:  (Xvesa &);sleep 1;DISPLAY=:0 xpdf file.pdf

This would not use any X libraries, just static Xvesa, right?
It might also save some RAM not using icewm or rxvt.

> > I notice they have the same names.  libX11.so.6.1 from
> > SW4.0 and 7.1
>
> I noticed that too.  It's a real pain.
>
> > There was at least one other X package such as xlib.tgz needed.
>
> xpdf also needs xfnts.tgz
Can't it be made to work with just one scalable font somehow, with a 
font.alias file pointing at that one font?

> > We were lucky with Opera.
>
> Yes, I think the Opera people are more careful about
> maintaining compatibility with older PCs and older libs.
>
> > Is it worth making an alternate set of libraries and binaries
> > for those of us who want to switch from the libc5 to a later X?
>
> No.  Users who are less constrained by hardware and who
> need up-to-date software, should probably use BL2.  BL3
> is designed for users who are constrained by low RAM,
> small HD and/or slow CPU.

BL2 for desktop, BL3 for laptop, has been my solution.
> > I was hoping to just point xpdf at one font
>
> Perhaps the xpdf documentation might help you.


I just remembered that xpdf package includes:

pdftops - then view the ps files with bmv, which I found as a Debian 
package for the SW7.1 glibc (I posted the package for BL2).  Lets you view 
at various resolutions at least up to 1024, zoom, and rotate.

Or view with SW4.0 gs after converting the pdf 1.5 to ps, and print. 
(netpbm's pbmtolj prints faster).  There might be a way to use just one 
font instead of the huge gs font collection.

pdftoppm - if it is a scanned document, then view the ppm files with zgv 
(or use netpbm to convert to gif).

pdftotext and pdfimages - to extract any text or images.  Some pdf files 
are coded so you can't extract the text (maybe so you cannot edit it?).

These are non-X programs.  bmv is svgalib.  I am using David's zgv-uclibc 
with the svgalib library he provided because they work with kernel 2.4.31 
(as well as earlier kernels) and I need that to get photos off the digital 
camera via USB, so I am using a viewer that works with 2.4.31.  The older 
zgv's do not.

I have not actually tried pdftops and bmv.  It should be a lot faster and 
less memory intensive.  xpdf is slow even with 128MB RAM.  Viewing images 
with zgv is much faster and not designed around a mouse either.
bmv's display is not as good for some reason but it would only be needed 
for documents that were written as mixed text and images, not for poor 
quality scanned images (use pdfimages insteaed).

I will report back how it works.  Do you have a link to a small pdf 1.5 
file with text and images?  My files are nearly all just plain scanned 
documents fed through a 'pdf machine' (scanner which makes all the images 
into pdf files, with luck at 300 not 200 dpi).


Linux always has at least three ways to do things.

Thanks for the instructions how to use Xvesa without rxvt or window 
manager so as to avoid the X library problems (and also use less RAM).
Opera works better with icewm for changing focus without a mouse.

> Cheers,
> Steven