[tex-k] xdvi 22.40i status

[M. Shell]

Stefan Ulrich wrote:
>
> 
> So, as for the `../' problem, we could implement a workaround
> with realpath() to canonicalize out the `../' components. But
> this won't help with the forbidden access problem with newer
> ghostscript.  From the News.html file in ghostscript-7.20
> it sounds as if this `feature' is here to stay:
> 


 Stefan,

Maybe there is a much easier way. The SF bug report I posted
has already been assigned. So, in the next few weeks/months 
the ../ problem will be history. Since the 7.01-7.04 series have
quite a few biting bugs, upgrading to later versions will
be a priority anyway. So, all we have to do is sit back and let
Ghostscript "heal" itself. ;) 


The -dSAFER issue may be easy to deal with too. All that
is needed is for users to update their XDvi config file to
turn off -dSAFER with later versions of gs. A really fancy
approach would be to have xdvi change its default safer
mode based on the detected version of gs. However, I would
feel better if there were some way xdvi could _ask_ gs what
its default safer policy is rather than inferring it from
the version number.


The main task as I see it is to update the docs and get the
word out to inform users about these issues.


 Michael