Ghostscript is a suite of software programs that can interpret Postscript and PDF files for printing and viewing. It was created in 1986 by L. Peter Deutsch for open source Unix systems. The software has had various licenses, resulting in different versions, including Aladdin Ghostscript and AFPL Ghostscript. Easy Software Products developed ESP Ghostscript in 1993, which merged with the GPL version to create GNU Ghostscript in 2006. Ghostscript has been ported to run on numerous operating systems and can act as an RIP engine for devices. GSview is a common program that uses Ghostscript as a back-end with a GUI.
Despite its name, Ghostscript is not a script. It is a suite of software programs capable of interpreting the Postscript language created by Adobe Systems Inc. Through these programs, a user can convert Postscript language files into various raster image processing (RIP) formats for printing and viewing or interpreting a Postscript file for a printer that does not have built-in Postscript capabilities. This software suite can perform the same functions for Portable Document Format (PDF) files and has the ability to convert Postscript files to PDF or vice versa.
L. Peter Deutsch created the Ghostscript suite in 1986 for GNU’s Not Unix (GNU) project to provide a means for open source Unix® systems to interpret the Postscript language. While it was intended to be open source software, Deutsch also had plans to create a commercial version, and thus retained the copyright to the source code. As a result, the software ended up falling under the confines of many different licenses which restricted its use in various ways.
Deutsch formed the company Aladdin Enterprises, which took the original suite and released a version called Aladdin Ghostscript. Although the purpose of this release was to start work on a commercial version, part of the agreement with the GNU Project was to release a free version as well. Deutsch then released a version of the General Public License (GPL) for the GNU, and a version by Aladdin Enterprises was released under what was called the Aladdin Free Public License (AFPL), which was more restrictive than the GPL. This version later became simply known as AFPL Ghostscript.
The Easy Software Products (ESP) company developed a version called ESP Ghostscript in 1993, which is also covered by the GPL. This version was created to be compatible with the ESP Common Unix Printing System (CUPS). In 2006, as CUPS became a staple for Linux® and other Unix® operating systems, ESP Ghostscript and the GPL version merged to create the GNU Project’s GNU Ghostscript. Ultimately, all of these names, software source code forks, and license conflicts are important to note as two releases have emerged from the fray: Ghostscript, which is copyrighted software owned by Artifex Software Inc. and licensed for commercial use, and GNU Ghostscript, maintained by the GNU Project and featuring a GPL version.
As an interpreter, the main purpose of this software is to take Postscript page description commands and translate them into a format that can be displayed on a computer monitor or on paper from a printer. When run, the interpreter displays a prompt to the user. The Postscript language can then be entered directly into the interpreter or via a text file that contains the Postscript language. The most common method is via a text file or Postscript document. In most computer file systems, Postscript files are identified by the .ps suffix.
This tedious command-line method of using Ghostscript is quite inaccessible for the common computer user, so a number of software projects have emerged that use the software as a back-end to view or print Postscript and PDF files. The most common is a program called GSview, which provides a graphical user interface (GUI). Given the origins of the software and Adobe Systems Inc.’s provision of Postscript and PDF interpreters for many commercial operating systems, most of the GUI software available to work with Ghostscript is developed to work with free Unix®-like operating systems.
Ghostscript itself, however, has been ported to run on numerous operating systems, including virtually all Unix®-like variants, Linux®, Macintosh®, Microsoft Windows, plus a host of other operating systems. The reason for this is probably the ability of the software to act like a RIP. In such use cases, Ghostscript runs as a service, or daemon, and acts as an input filter for a device by taking Postscript and processing it for a printer or display. As an engine for RIP devices, therefore, it must be able to run seamlessly under one of several operating systems that RIP devices are built on.
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