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.
10 I. Enable the TrueType bytecode hinter if you need it
11 -----------------------------------------------------
13 See the instructions in the file "TRUETYPE" of this directory.
15 Note that FreeType supports TrueType fonts without the bytecode
16 interpreter through its auto-hinter, which now generate relatively good
17 results with most fonts.
20 II. Determine the correct installation path
21 --------------------------------------------
23 By default, the source package will install the library in
24 "/usr/local". However, many Unix distributions now install the
25 library in "/usr", since FreeType is becoming a critical system
28 If FreeType is already installed on your system, type
30 freetype-config --prefix
32 on the command line. This should return the installation path to
33 use below (e.g. "/usr" or "/usr/local"). Otherwise, simply use
34 "/usr" (or what you think is adequate for your installation).
38 III. Ensure that you are using GNU Make
39 ---------------------------------------
41 The FreeType build system _exclusively_ works with GNU Make. You
42 will not be able to compile the library with the instructions
43 below using any other alternative (including BSD Make).
45 Trying to compile the library with a different Make tool will
48 Sorry, GNU make is required to build FreeType2.
50 and the build process will be aborted. If this happens, install
51 GNU Make on your system, and use the GNUMAKE environment variable
56 IV. Build and install the library
57 ---------------------------------
59 The following should work on all Unix systems where the `make'
60 command invokes GNU Make:
62 ./configure --prefix=<yourprefix>
64 make install (as root)
66 where "<yourprefix>" must be replaced by the prefix returned by
67 the "freetype-config" command.
69 When using a different command to invoke GNU Make, use the GNUMAKE
70 variable. For example, if `gmake' is the command to use on your
71 system, do something like:
73 GNUMAKE=gmake ./configure --prefix=<yourprefix>
75 gmake install (as root)
77 If this still doesn't work, read the detailed compilation
78 procedure available in the file "docs/BUILD" for troubleshooting.
81 V. Take care of XFree86 version 4
82 ---------------------------------
84 Certain recent Linux distributions will install _several_ versions
85 of FreeType on your system. For example, on a fresh Mandrake 8.1
86 system, you can find the following files:
88 /usr/lib/libfreetype.so which links to
89 /usr/lib/libfreetype.6.1.0.so
93 /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.so which links to
94 /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.6.0.so
96 Note that these files correspond to two distinct versions of the
97 library! It seems that this surprising issue is due to the
98 install scripts of recent XFree86 servers (from 4.1.0) which
99 irremediably install their own (dated) version of the library in
102 In certain _rare_ cases you may experience minor problems if you
103 install this release of the library in "/usr" only, namely, that
104 certain applications will not benefit from the bug fixes and
105 rendering improvements you'd expect.
107 There are two good ways to deal with this situation:
109 - Install the library _twice_, in "/usr" and in "/usr/X11R6"
110 (you have to do that each time you install a new FreeType
113 - Change the link in /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.so to point to
115 /usr/lib/libfreetype.so,
119 /usr/X11R6/lib/libfreetype.6.0.so
121 The FreeType Team is not responsible for this problem, so please
122 contact either the XFree86 development team or your Linux
123 distributor to help clear this issue in case the information given