[[Image(/static/libcaca-logo.png, align=right, alt="libcaca logo")]]

== Introduction ==

libcaca is a graphics library that outputs text instead of pixels, so that it can work on older video cards or text terminals. It is not unlike the famous [http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/aalib/ AAlib] library, with the following improvements:

    * Unicode support
    * 2048 available colours (some devices can only handle 16)
    * dithering of colour images
    * advanced text canvas operations (blitting, rotations)

Libcaca works in a text terminal (and should thus work on all Unix systems including Mac OS X) using the S-Lang or ncurses libraries. It also works natively on DOS and Windows.

Libcaca was written by Sam Hocevar and Jean-Yves Lamoureux. It is free software, and can be used, modified and distributed under the terms of the [http://www.wtfpl.net/ Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License].

[[Image(/static/sample.png, align=right, border=2)]]

== Screenshots ==

{{{
#!comment
Change those fucking screenshots to proper Trac stuff when 0.11 is in Debian:
[[Image(/static/images/tn-stitch-80x45.jpeg, link=/img/stitch-80x45.png)]]
}}}

Here are a few libcaca screenshots.

{{{
#!html
<table cellspacing="5" border="0">
  <tr>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/stitch-80x45.png"><img alt="cacaview"
         width="73" height="90"
         src="/static/images/tn-stitch-80x45.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small><code>cacaview</code></small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/cacaball-80x50.png"><img alt="cacaball"
         width="101" height="90"
         src="/static/images/tn-cacaball-80x50.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small><code>cacaball</code></small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/cacaplas-80x50.png"><img alt="cacaplas"
         width="101" height="90"
         src="/static/images/tn-cacaplas-80x50.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small><code>cacaplas</code></small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/truecolor-32x16.png"><img alt="truecolor"
         width="87" height="90"
         src="/static/images/tn-truecolor-32x16.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small>TrueColor</small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/unicode-80x24.png"><img alt="unicode"
         width="120" height="75"
         src="/static/images/tn-unicode-80x24.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small>Unicode</small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/swallow-80x32.png"><img alt="swallow"
         width="120" height="81"
         src="/static/images/tn-swallow-80x32.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small>swallowing applications</small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/rotate.png"><img alt="rotation"
         width="75" height="90"
         src="/static/images/tn-rotate.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small>canvas rotation</small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
      <a href="/static/images/export.png"><img alt="rotation"
         width="78" height="90"
         src="/static/images/tn-export.jpeg" /></a>
      <br /><small>ANSI to PNG</small>
    </td>
    <td align="center">
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
}}}

== Download ==

The latest development version of libcaca is 0.99.beta18 (6 Apr 2012):
 * [/files/libcaca/libcaca-0.99.beta18.tar.gz libcaca-0.99.beta18.tar.gz]

The old, deprecated 0.9 release is still available. You are encouraged to evaluate and use 0.99, though.
 * [/files/libcaca/libcaca-0.9.tar.gz libcaca-0.9.tar.gz]
 * [/files/libcaca/libcaca-win32-0.9.zip libcaca-win32-0.9.zip]

== Development ==

Read the following if you wish to hack on libcaca:

 * [wiki:libcaca/devel development notes]

Development happens in a centralised Subversion repository:
 * svn://svn.zoy.org/caca/libcaca/trunk
 * associated [http://caca.zoy.org/browser/libcaca/trunk web interface]

There is also a Git repository that mirrors the central one:
 * using the Git protocol: git://git.zoy.org/libcaca.git
 * using HTTP: http://caca.zoy.org/git/libcaca.git

== Why? ==

{{{
#!html
<blockquote><p>
Que dites-vous ?... C’est inutile ?... Je le sais !
<br />Mais on ne se bat pas dans l’espoir du succès !
<br />Non ! non, c’est bien plus beau lorsque c’est inutile !
<br /><small> -- Edmond Rostand, <i>Cyrano de Bergerac</i> </small>
</p></blockquote>
}}}

I am perfectly aware that libcaca is the waste of time it looks to be. No need to tell me about that. I urge you to read Théophile Gautier’s preface to ''Mademoiselle de Maupin'', which also gives an excellent explanation for the name “libcaca”:

{{{
#!html
<blockquote><p>
Il n’y a rien de vraiment beau que ce qui ne peut servir à rien ; tout ce
qui est utile est laid ; car c’est l’expression de quelque besoin ; et ceux
de l’homme sont ignobles et dégoûtants, comme sa pauvre et infirme nature. -
L’endroit le plus utile d’une maison, ce sont les latrines.
</p></blockquote>
}}}