[Scribus] compile error w/o Qt-thread - exec err Debian Woody

[Peter Linnell]

On Sun, 2003-05-04 at 13:05, hugo vanwoerkom wrote:
> I wanted to see if scribus could edit a pdf so I
> installed the debian woody version (which is 0.6)
> and got
> 
> fatal parsing error: error while parsing element
> in line 1 
> fatal parsing error: error while parsing prolog
> in line 1 
> Parsing error
> 
> Followed by a segfault.

To be expected, Scribus does not currently have PDF import or editing
capabilities. 

> So I downloaded the 0.8 tarball and compiled that
> with --disable-mt because I have 3.1.1 installed
> (both x11 and embedded) but without thread
> support. That fails because in line 86 of
> main.cpp there is a call to a.unlock() which
> ain't around because there is no thread support...

Scribus, like KDE 3.1+ *requires* threading support. 

Just curious why not enable thread support?

> 
> All of this is moot if scribus is unable to edit
> a pdf file, like Adobe can, which I prefer not to
> use...
> H.
> 

Unfortunately, reliably editing PDF is still the province of expensive
specialist applications. To edit a PDF, you need the Koffice plug-in
which is in development or Illustrator or full Acrobat and possibly
additional Third Party Plug-ins for Acrobat i.e Enfocus Pit Stop, Quite
a Box of Tricks or Lantana's Crackerjack on another platform.  

PDF was meant to an end product file format, not an editable file format
like a TIFF or a vector file. The plug-ins above are (relatively)
expensive, specialist tools typically purchased by pre-press and service
bureaus who receive PDF's from a number of sources. They require some
detailed knowledge of PDF internals and a basic understanding of many
DTP principles.

In the real world, in a service bureau they are essential for pre-
flighting and fixing files to ensure they are properly setup to be sent
to an image setter or CTP.  


Peter