So, version 14.2 is coming. I use Ghostscript a lot for my work, and I was hoping for the inclusion of a newer version of Ghostscript to fix some obscure bugs that have troubled me. However, the version of gnu-ghostscript in Current is 9.07, the same old one that shipped with Slackware 14.1. And yet, gnu-ghostscript has made many bugfix releases in the years since and is now at 9.14.0.

So, why has Pat decided to keep Ghostscript at this older version? Is it a conscious decision, or an oversight? When testing current and release candidates, is the community expected to recommend package upgrades to Pat, or assume he has a reason for using the older package?

Reading the ChangeLog may help:

Thanks, I understand now. Well, at least the fact that everything in Slackware is Slackbuilds, allows me to conveniently roll my own gnu-ghostscript-9.14.0, so not a big tragedy.

Most packages kept are done because of stability, interoperability, and compatibility reasons.

It’s hard to see this example, however, as anything other than a failure by the community. No one responded to Pat’s call for some investigation into why later versions of gnu-ghostscript crash GIMP. I’ll have to install -current on a spare machine after 14.2 is released and see if I can pitch in when issues like this prevent Slackware from adopting bugfix releases.

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I did some testing but could not find any package update that would fix that issue. Seem to be a very rare problem, hard to find a solution. I'm fine with GS9.07, i don't need any update for now.

Are you busy with something else such that you can't (or don't want to; nothing bad about that) put -current on the spare machine to find the fix prior to 14.2 going out?
You could get your name in the changelog....

We’re at the RC3 stage, probably not the time to try to push a later version of a package. Plus I won’t be able to install current on a spare machine for another couple of weeks, and then it would take more time to hunt down the bug (if I could find it at all).

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He's still been updating plenty of packages during the RC phase. If you can find a fix, I'm sure he'd be willing to check it out and consider it being added before 14.2 stable is released.

I try both ghostscript 9.18 and 9.19, and I could not reproduce the crash when gimp importing a PS file, does anyone have a valid PS/EPS file that will crash gimp ps import?

P.S tested with Slackware64-current on Dell Optiplex 390 with 8G of RAM.

Slackware packages GNU Ghostscript, which is up to version 9.14.0. You must have tried the Artifex Ghostscript from Ghostscript.com, which is at version 9.19, but that's not what Slackware uses.

I don't think Slackware is going to use the GNU version, as it has not been updated since end of 2014. The current change log shows Patrick tried on 9.16 and 9.18, clearly, it is from the Artifex GPL version.

For the output of gs --help:

It is not the GNU version.

Interesting. The Slackbuild that is used to package Ghostscript for Slackware Current suggests that, at least some of the time, it is GNU Ghostscript that Pat is using.

It used to be, I forgot when it starts to using the Artifex one, properly since Artifex re-license its code under GPL.