Version 10 of GD

Updated 2003-01-03 10:54:15

http://www.boutell.com/gd/ is the web page of the original author of the GIF creation library GD. Originally, when Compuserve created GIF, the file format most commonly used included a compression algorithm that was patented by UNISYS. When UNISYS began enforcing their patent, work on free GIF creation libraries shifted from generating compressed files using the patented algorithm to creating image files uncompressed.

BR - IANAL, and sources on the 'net are not really reliable for legal advice, but according to the LPF [L1 ] the UNISYS patent will expire in June.

LV - IANAL either, but one could always search the net and find http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/lzw/ , which is where the people holding the patent has information about licensing, etc.

libgd no longer works with gifs, but it handles jpegs and pngs quite well. pngs are more compact than even the best gifs for diagrams with few colors, and supported by most web browsers now, so this is not really a bad thing.

Bullonya. It is a bad thing. Click on the second link below and get libgd with gif, jpeg, and png support.

  http://martin.gleeson.com/fly/installation.html

  http://www.rime.com.au/gd/









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