a2ps-4.14

[alexander@…]

Version increment. The new version is still unusable with UTF-8.

[bdubbs@…]

This versions requires gperf:

wget http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gperf/gperf-3.0.3.tar.gz
tar -xf gperf-3.0.3.tar.gz
cd gperf-3.0.3

./configure --prefix=/usr
make
make check
sudo make install

Time about 0.1 SBU

I'm not sure if the sed commands are necessary, but a2ps builds without any of them.

[Randy McMurchy]

My take on the sed commands:

The Emacs sed is not required. Nothing from the contrib/Emacs directory is installed.

The make_fonts_map sed does make a difference in a test file I used the before and after sort commands and they produce different results. The -k syntax seems to be required for proper operation, though I cannot be certain.

The /usr/local/share to /usr/share is required to find the Ghostscript fonts. There's no configure swith to define it so we need the change.

The malloc sed is not required as it is fixed in the new package version.

I'm not sure what the localstatedir=/var does. Nothing is installed there, but it could be a /var/spool thing, but I'm not sure.

PSUtils should be moved to a recommended dependency. This is from the program's author.

There is one additional test that fails during 'make check' other than the printer.tst

The i18 fonts should be marked as optional. Right now the book implies that you should install them as it is under the "additional downloads" with no comment about being optional, and there is instructions to install them without it being marked as optional either.

Because of the 3 unknowns (sed to fix sort command, the localstatedir and the new 'make check' error) I don't feel comfortable updating the package.

Perhaps I'm being overly cautious here.

[Richard A Downing]

I'm currently testing this new version. One thing I've found is that the explanation we give about --medium, needs a bit more:

--with-medium=letter: This switch changes the default paper format of A4 to letter. It can either be given here or set in /etc/a2ps/a2ps-site.cfg after installation. The default is A4, but there are several other options, in particular: A4dj or letterdj are a good settings for HP Deskjet and other printers that need wider paper-handling margins. See /etc/a2ps/a2ps.cfg after installation.

I agree with Randy that there are additional make check failures, but I can't see any difference in the printer output. I'm inclined to insert a warning in the book, and move on.

Looking into the localstatedir issue now.

[Richard A Downing]

Updated to a2ps-4.14, removed two seds as detailed in Randy's comment. Removed --localstatedir configure option and made psutils a recommended dependency.

Note that I can't get rid of the make check failure, so I have just left a comment to that effect in the book. I cannot find any failure mode of the program in normal use.