12-13-2002


IBM's Linux Omni Printer Driver Framework
http://www.ibm.com/linux/ltc/projects/omni
Version 0.7.2
=================================================================

IMPORTANT NOTES:

   - If you are using gcc 3.X, then use the latest version in CVS or an
     official release that contains bug c++/6316 in it.

   - We have changed the layout of where the omni driver is installed.
     The new directory structure is /opt/Omni/bin for programs and
     /opt/Omni/lib for libraries.

   - We no longer place patch files in the root of the tar file because
     there are now multiple versions of the Ghostscript patches.  Please
     look under Omni/Ghostscript and choose the proper version based on
     the source that you are using.

   - Please backup any file changes you have made as there are a number
     of core files that have been added or updated in this release.

   - The source directory tree structure may may changed since the last
     release.  Please delete the Omni directory before unpacking this
     release.

We have also enabled faster driver development with the ability to easily
extend the existing device support with features of a new device through a
well defined pluggable interface.  Additionally, The Omni driver supports
the dynamic loading of new device support.  Once you have build this package
with Ghostscript, printer drivers can be built separately and applied to a
system without having to rebuild Ghostscript on the target systems.
Accurate per device printer features are supported through command
line options allowing the user to change multiple properties of the
completed output. We have also provided a utility for querying the
available options on a particular device.

We will continue to improve upon this code by adding new function and
features.  Since the driver model and code are not 100% completed yet,
we welcome any feedback concerning the driver/driver model along with
any problems or issues that might arise during its use.  We also would
like to have any contributions that will increase the stability,
performance, or feature set of the Omni driver.

We have not tuned the color output on all devices.
If your output colors are not correct, please refer to section 5 (Omni
color adjustment) to adjust the gammas to best suit your printer, paper,
and inks.

Please see the following files in Omni's doc directory for more information:

   Building
      How to build the omni driver from source code.

   Change Log
      Changes that went into all of the versions of omni.

   Color Adjustment
      How to adjust the color for your printer.

   How To Create A Device
      How to create a new device under the omni driver.

   Known Problems
      This is a list of currently known problems in the omni driver.

   Omni Rasterization Specification
      The is a description of the rasteration interface between core omni
      code and a device.

   Omni.coding.style
      If you add code to the omni driver, please use this guide to format it!

   Omni_RPM.Readme
      Read this for information about RedHat RPMs.

   PDC Specification
      The specification for the Printer Driver Communications.

   Readme.1st
      This file.

   Reporting Bugs
      How to report a bug.

   Usage
      How to use the omni driver.

   todo
      What still needs to be done to the omni driver.