SPECIAL NOTE FOR UNIX USERS: ============================ If you're installing this release of FreeType on a system that already uses release 2.0.5 (or even an older version), you'll need 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 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're using TrueType fonts on your system, you'll 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_ITNERPRETER - 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: make setup unix CFG="--prefix=" make make install (as root) where "" must be replaced by the prefix returned by the "freetype-config" command. III. Take care of XFree86 4: ---------------------------- Certain recent Linux distributions will install _several_ versions of FreeType on your system.. For example, on a fresh Mandrake 8.1 system, you'll 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 such nasty systems: - install the library _twice_, in "/usr" and in "/usr/X11R6" (you'll need 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 mess, so please contact either the XFree86 development team or your Linux distributor to help clear this issue.., or if the above information doesn't help..