2 SPECIAL NOTE FOR UNIX USERS
3 ===========================
5 If you are installing this release of FreeType on a system that
6 already uses release 2.0.5 (or even an older version), you have to
7 perform a few special steps to ensure that everything goes well.
11 I. Enable the TrueType bytecode hinter if you need it
12 -----------------------------------------------------
14 The TrueType bytecode interpreter is disabled in all public
15 releases of the FreeType packages for patents reasons (see
16 http://www.freetype.org/patents.html for more details).
18 However, many Linux distributions do enable the interpreter in the
19 FreeType packages (DEB/RPM/etc.) they produce for their platforms.
20 If you are using TrueType fonts on your system, you most probably
21 want to enable it manually by doing the following:
23 - open the file "include/freetype/config/ftoption.h"
25 - locate a line that says:
27 #undef TT_CONFIG_OPTION_BYTECODE_INTERPRETER
31 #define TT_CONFIG_OPTION_BYTECODE_INTERPRETER
33 of course, this must be done _before_ compiling the library
37 II. Determine the correct installation path
38 --------------------------------------------
40 By default, the source package will install the library in
41 "/usr/local". However, many Unix distributions now install the
42 library in "/usr", since FreeType is becoming a critical system
45 If FreeType is already installed on your system, type
47 freetype-config --prefix
49 on the command line. This should return the installation path to
50 use below (e.g. "/usr" or "/usr/local"). Otherwise, simply use
51 "/usr" (or what you think is adequate for your installation).
55 III. Ensure that you are using GNU Make
56 ---------------------------------------
58 The FreeType build system _exclusively_ works with GNU Make. You
59 will not be able to compile the library with the instructions
60 below using any other alternative (including BSD Make).
62 Trying to compile the library with a different Make tool will
65 Sorry, GNU make is required to build FreeType2.
67 and the build process will be aborted. If this happens, install
68 GNU Make on your system, and use the GNUMAKE environment variable
73 IV. Build and install the library
74 ---------------------------------
76 The following should work on all Unix systems where the `make'
77 command invokes GNU Make:
79 ./configure --prefix=<yourprefix>
81 make install (as root)
83 where "<yourprefix>" must be replaced by the prefix returned by
84 the "freetype-config" command.
86 When using a different command to invoke GNU Make, use the GNUMAKE
87 variable. For example, if `gmake' is the command to use on your
88 system, do something like:
90 GNUMAKE=gmake ./configure --prefix=<yourprefix>
92 gmake install (as root)
94 If this still doesn't work, read the detailed compilation
95 procedure available in the file "docs/BUILD" for troubleshooting.
98 V. Take care of XFree86 version 4
99 ---------------------------------
101 Certain recent Linux distributions will install _several_ versions
102 of FreeType on your system. For example, on a fresh Mandrake 8.1
103 system, you can find the following files:
105 /usr/lib/libfreetype.so which links to
106 /usr/lib/libfreetype.6.1.0.so
110 /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.so which links to
111 /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.6.0.so
113 Note that these files correspond to two distinct versions of the
114 library! It seems that this surprising issue is due to the
115 install scripts of recent XFree86 servers (from 4.1.0) which
116 irremediably install their own (dated) version of the library in
119 In certain _rare_ cases you may experience minor problems if you
120 install this release of the library in "/usr" only, namely, that
121 certain applications will not benefit from the bug fixes and
122 rendering improvements you'd expect.
124 There are two good ways to deal with this situation:
126 - Install the library _twice_, in "/usr" and in "/usr/X11R6"
127 (you have to do that each time you install a new FreeType
130 - Change the link in /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.so to point to
132 /usr/lib/libfreetype.so,
136 /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.6.0.so
138 The FreeType Team is not responsible for this problem, so please
139 contact either the XFree86 development team or your Linux
140 distributor to help clear this issue in case the information given