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Re: [MacPerl-Porters] Re: [macperl-porters] GD
At 16.30 -0400 1999.07.17, Peter Prymmer wrote:
>On Sat, 17 Jul 1999, Arved Sandstrom wrote:
>
>> Like Chris said, we're not looking at doing away with GD by any means.
>> It's just that there is some question about libgd, the C library that the
>> GD extension is based on. It all has to do with the patent on LZW
>> compression.
>>
>> I think it really affects us only peripherally. Because we certainly will
>> be able to have *a* GD.
>
>It may be that Tom Boutell will even be able to put RLE GIF into gd 1.3
>(as opposed to LZW GIF).
It is already there. gd1.5 had LZW. From gd1.3 readme.txt (gd1.3 was
released sometime in 1998):
# In order to resolve any possible confusion regarding the authorship of
# gd, the following copyright statement covers all of the authors who
# have required such a statement. Although his LZW compression code no
# longer appears in gd, the authors wish to thank David Rowley for the
# original LZW-based GIF compression code, which has been removed due to
# patent concerns. If you are aware of any oversights in this copyright
# notice, please contact Thomas Boutell who will be pleased to correct
# them.
And then:
# Version 1.3 was released to correct longstanding bugs and provide an
# LZW-free GIF compression routine.
So gd1.2 uses LZW (and GD.pm comes with gd1.2).
And then:
# Version 1.3 features the following changes:
#
# Non-LZW-based GIF compression code
# Version 1.3 contains GIF compression code that uses simple Run
# Length Encoding instead of LZW compression, while still
# retaining compatibility with normal LZW-based GIF decoders
# (your browser will still like your GIFs). LZW compression is
# patented by Unisys. This is why there have been no new versions
# of gd for a long time. THANKS to Hutchison Avenue Software
# Corporation for contributing this code. THE NEW CODE PRODUCES
# LARGER GIFS AND IS NOT WELL SUITED TO PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES. THIS
# IS A LEGAL ISSUE. IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF TECHNICAL SKILL.
# PLEASE DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SIZE OF GIF OUTPUT. THANKS!
--
Chris Nandor mailto:pudge@pobox.com http://pudge.net/
%PGPKey = ('B76E72AD', [1024, '0824090B CE73CA10 1FF77F13 8180B6B6'])
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