sane-backends-1.0.12: description + notes

SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) is an application programming interface (API) that provides standardized access to a wide range of raster image scanner hardware (flatbed scanners, hand-held scanners, video- and still-cameras, frame-grabbers, etc.). The SANE API is public domain and its discussion and development is open to everybody. The current source code is written for UNIX (including GNU/Linux) and is available under the GNU General Public License (the SANE API is available to proprietary applications and backends as well, however).

SANE is a universal scanner interface. The value of such a universal interface is that it allows writing just one driver per image acquisition device rather than one driver for each device and application. So, if you have three applications and four devices, traditionally you'd have had to write 12 different programs. With SANE, this number is reduced to seven: the three applications plus the four drivers. Of course, the savings get even bigger as more and more drivers and/or applications are added.

Not only does SANE reduce development time and code duplication, it also raises the level at which applications can work. As such, it will enable applications that were previously unheard of in the UNIX world. While SANE is primarily targeted at a UNIX environment, the standard has been carefully designed to make it possible to implement the API on virtually any hardware or operating system.

For more details, see the official SANE website.

Note: This package features the integration with gPhoto2, which gives SANE compliant applications access to all the gPhoto2 supported digital cameras. Please note that the SANE backends include direct support for Kodak DC25, DC210 and DC240 digital cameras. If you install the SANE gPhoto2 backend (available as a separate subsystem), do not activate both the internal digital cameras backend and the gPhoto2 backend simultaneously in /usr/freeware/etc/sane.d/dll.conf. If you do you could experience problems during image acquisition.

Previous versions of the IRIX Freeware distribution included a fw_sane package. The SANE source code has since been reorganized. Install both fw_sane-backends and fw_sane-frontends to get the equivalent of the old fw_sane package.

Special thanks to Andrea Suatoni (a.suatoni@telefonica.net) for helping port this package to IRIX.
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