Subject: Re: UNIX & Fonts -- the big view
From: Stefan Rieken (StefanRieken@SoftHome.net)
Date: Sun Apr 30 2000 - 08:02:55 CDT
Justin Bradford wrote:
> GNOME will likely both implement a new font subsystem for
> their applications. I imagine KDE would likely do the same.
Phew! so there IS hope!
> I don't see a reason to only support one type.
It was meant like Linux's ELF: you can still use a lot of other binary
formats, but there is something unifying.
> There are a couple of programs I've seen for Linux for
> designing fonts. I don't think any work is being done on
> this currently, but it's a place to start:
>
> http://www.levien.com/gfonted/
Whopee! I have searched for such programs, but was unable to find one
(especially on Freshmeat).
> One could modify the X font server to periodically scan the
> font directories for new additions.
I indeed didn't think that this would be hard to do, but convincing the
major distro's that that is cool is a second thing :-)
> I'm not sure who you've contacted so far, but for this
> problem, you'll probably want to get input from the GNOME
> people, as well. Specifically, I'd contact Raph Levien (who
> wrote most of the graphic subsystems used in GNOME).
You are the first people I contact. It's a little impulsive, but you've
got to start somewhere. Maybe I'll bother Raph Levien with this...
> I remember reading some interview with him where he was
> talking about GNOME solutions to the font problem.
...but the best news for me is that there is actually thought about (I
never saw anybody addressing the problem before). Also, GNOME would be a
good solution to start, but I agree with you that:
> Something lower level which could be used by GNOME, KDE, or
> UNIX applications directly would be even better.
We're lucky that GNOME and KDE do work *together* on a few standards.
But it would indeed be a blessing. I'll see what they think of it.
Additionally, Leonard Rosenthol wrote about OpenType. I off course
wonder: does Open mean "Open"? Or do we get this legal status thingy
like in FreeType?
Thanks for your input, it already learnt me a lot.
Greets,
Stefan
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