[Bug 1913656] Re: `gs [options] -- <input_file>` fails with "permission denied"

[Robie Basak]

** Summary changed:

- Fix for Ghostscript 9.50 upstream bug needs to be back-ported
+ `gs [options] -- <input_file>` fails with "permission denied"

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1913656

Title:
  `gs [options] -- <input_file>` fails with "permission denied"

Status in ghostscript package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in ghostscript source package in Focal:
  Fix Committed

Bug description:
  [Impact]
   * The command line syntax `gs [options] -- <input_file>` fails
     to load in the input file with a "permission denied" error.
   * Per the ghostscript documentation, the `--` syntax is used as follows:
        "-- filename arg1 ...
         Takes the next argument as a file name as usual,
         but takes all remaining arguments (even if they
         have the syntactic form of switches) and defines
         the name ARGUMENTS in userdict (not systemdict)
         as an array of those strings, before running the
         file. When Ghostscript finishes executing the file,
         it exits back to the shell."

  [Test Plan]
  ---------- to be performed in a desktop environment ----------
   * Obtain a valid input file for ghostscript. The Source package
     contains an `examples/` directory with plenty to choose from.
   * `gs -- <input-file>`
   * Observe that the test failed with a "permission denied" error.
   * Install the version of ghostscript from focal-proposed.
   * `gs -- <input-file>`
   * Observe that the command succeeds and a ghostscript window.
     appears with the output of the `gs` command.

  In addition see comment 6 and comment 2 for two more items in the test
  plan. -- ~racb

  [Regression Potential]
   * Since this patch affects command line processing, it is possible
     that other arguments or command line syntaxes could be affected.

  [Original Description]
  Ghostscript 9.50 exhibits https://bugs.ghostscript.com/show_bug.cgi?id=701894 (fix the '--' and co options) which causes (eg) ocrfeeder to fail to load PDF files: an input file specified using the "... -- filename ..." command line syntax has no read permission in the GS interpreter.

  This commit fixes it:

  http://git.ghostscript.com/?p=ghostpdl.git;a=commit;h=24ec06a27df63297796a379c95ee5d4b39040410

  GS 9.52 includes the commit.

  Either apply the fix from the linked commit in the Focal-Updates
  version, or upgrade it to 9.52.

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