[gs-devel] Questions about 8.70 vs 8.71

[Ken Sharp]

At 16:26 02/04/2010 -0400, Norris, George (US SSA) wrote:


>1. Are these bugs fixes to 8.70 or fixes to 8.71 code after the initial or 
>interim releases?

Depends on the date. The 8.70 release was in July 2009, any changes 
preceding that date are in the 8.70 release. The 8.71 release was 10th 
February 2010. Any changes after July 2009 and before 10/02/2010 are in the 
8.71 release. Any changes after that date are currently unreleased, but are 
available from the public source repository.

All the bug fixes and enhancements you have listed appear to have been 
submitted between the release dates of 8.70 and 8.71 and are therefore 
present in the 8.71 release.


>2. Is 8.71 a much more stable version than 8.70, especially in terms of 
>fixing pdfwrite bugs and producing PDF/A output?

Stability and bug fixing aren't really related in my opinion. All new 
versions of Ghostscript contain bug fixes and the information about those 
fixes is public as you know.

As for stability; Ghostscript is subject to quite a rigorous continuous 
testing schedule. All changes to the source are subjected to an automated 
test. This exercises the rendering and pdfwrite devices in a modest variety 
of configurations. In addition there are more extensive nightly and weekly 
tests for regressions.

We endeavour not to introduce any problems but it is of course impossible 
to test such a large and complex piece of software completely, and in all 
possible configurations. Naturally we also hold back changes deemed by 
developers as more risky if a release is imminent, to give ourselves more 
time to catch any unforseen side effects.


>3. Would you recommend that we upgrade to 8.71 instead of 8.70?

In general I would always recommend using the latest version of 
Ghostscript, however you must satisfy yourselves that the current version 
meets your needs. This is especially true for users of GPL Ghostscript as 
opposed to Artifex's commercial customers.



                 Ken