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DjVu and PDF Developer Libraries
A report by PlanetDjVu, January 29,
2003 PDF
Developer Libraries:
If you are
developing an application for PDF, there are 10 developer libraries
available for licensing, in addition to the Adobe Acrobat Developer
Library. For a list of these libraries, see: http://www.planetpdf.com/mainpage.asp?WebPageID=450#adobe
Each
library has different strengths and weaknesses (and pricing). It is a
shoppers paradise. DjVu
Developer Libraries:
If you are
developing an application for DjVu, there are two separate developer
libraries. The first
is the DjVu Reference Library owned by LizardTech, Inc. The last published
version of this library was Version 3.5, Prerelease 2, dated 10-4-2001.
This is the last version contributed by LizardTech to Open Source, and it
lacks the color image segmenter and shared token dictionaries, features
which were excluded for the Open Source release. The full DjVu
Reference Library owned by LizardTech is not released as a
product. The second
is the DjVuLibre reference library, which is currently at Version 3.5.9.
See: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=32953
The developers of DjVuLibre made many fixes, additions and
improvements to the Version 3.5 Prerelease 2 contributed by LizardTech.
This second library is free for non-commercial use under the GNU open
source agreement. Most developer libraries under the GNU can be
licensed for commercial use, but not the DjVuLibre library. There are
multiple owners of this library, one of which is LizardTech, and
LizardTech is unwilling to issue commercial licenses. There are
two developers (JRA and RealView) who developed commercial applications
with the DjVu Reference Library which is in open source (versions earlier
than 3.5), but these applications were not released due to lack of
licensing. This
accounts in part for why there are no third-party DjVu products on the
market today (except for DjVuer from Feith, which was licensed by AT&T
prior to the sale of DjVu to LizardTech). This also partly accounts for
why we have no DjVu products to offer you here at
PlanetDjVu. If you
want to license a developer library for DjVu, you are flat out of luck. If
you want to license a developer library for PDF, take your
pick! |
