[Groff] Re: DESC question

[Larry Kollar]

Back from vacation....

> What exactly is the DESC file?

It describes the capabilities of an output device. See the
groff_font manpage for details of what the device does.

> When I type in "groff" on my Debian testing box all it
> does is wait for input (it doesn't return any output).

Right. Given no arguments, groff reads stdin and writes
PostScript output. Type "groff -v" to see what version you
have installed already. Thing is, Debian's default groff
package is cut back to the point where it's only good for
formatting manpages.

> I recently compiled groff from scratch in another
> directory with a seperate native toolchain I've been
> building, and when I run groff with no options, this is
> the result:
>
> thebeast:/usr/src/groff-1.19.1# groff
> groff: can't find `DESC' file
> groff:fatal error: invalid device `ps'

If you want to try out a compiled groff without installing
it, you need to run ./test-groff from the build directory.
For example, try this:

    ./test-groff -man -Tlatin1 man/groff_font.n | less

That should simultaneously confirm that your build went
right and answer your "what is DESC?" question in detail. :-)

-- Larry