ref: 1305f2616da2a0207fa9708c77f48cc9daf88253
dir: /README.UNX/
SPECIAL NOTE FOR UNIX USERS
===========================
If you are installing this release of FreeType on a system that
already uses release 2.0.5 (or even an older version), you have 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
http://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 are using TrueType fonts on your system, you 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_INTERPRETER
- 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:
./configure --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 version 4
-----------------------------------
Certain recent Linux distributions will install _several_ versions
of FreeType on your system. For example, on a fresh Mandrake 8.1
system, you can 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 this situation:
- Install the library _twice_, in "/usr" and in "/usr/X11R6"
(you have 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 problem, so please
contact either the XFree86 development team or your Linux
distributor to help clear this issue in case the information given
here doesn't help.