You can't always get what you font
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While I continue to be amazed at the progress both As someone who's been using Linux as my primary workstation OS since thedays of Caldera Network Desktop 1.0 (circa 1995) and its Looking GlassGUI, I don't just have one Linux desktop frustration; I have a list. Atthe top of that list is the ghastly manner in which Linux systemsimplement fonts. Rather than have one central place from which all applications fetch theirfonts, we have a situation in which every application implements fonts inits own way: the X Window System has its way, word processors want it adifferent way, printing systems want it another way, and so on. Lately I've explored ways to install non-standard fonts that could be usedby my system's X server, For starters, there are so many different font formats. Those in the PCand Mac worlds who think that choosing between TrueType and PostScriptType 1 fonts is too much of a headache would suffer repeated migraines fromX Windows. Speedo and PCF formats, pretty well unknown outside X, minglewith the TrueType and Type 1 fonts under the/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ directory. And the Then there's the popular TeX typesetting system, which includes its ownformat called The TeX installation found on most Linux systems brings a whole pile offonts with it--Metafont and others--into its own private hierarchydirectories. And since TeX still runs under DOS, where it's consideredimportant to keep file names to the DOS 8.3 limits, TeX uses namingconventions different from any other Linux application. Then there's my StarOffice installation, which puts its accompanying fontsin an entirely different location. WordPerfect Office not only puts itsfonts somewhere else, it installs its own private font server. Starting toget the picture? To a certain extent, this is a standards issue. Nobody has specified wherefonts go on a Linux system, so they end up everywhere. I spoke to DanQuinlan from the Linux StandardBase group and he said that he'd love for someone to step forward andcoordinate efforts to bring some sanity to the system. But standards are barely half the battle. Vendors need to improveinstallation methods. Default settings should be good enough that weshouldn't need a Linux HOWTO document on " We need to capitalize on the strengths of Linux's font implementation(such as the powerful features of using font servers in networkedenvironments) while doing an overhaul of the default installation andproviding standards for file locations and third-party applicationbehavior. While I make no pretence that an acceptable solution will be easy to find,this is a problem that absolutely needs to be solved. Yes, I know thatGUIs aren't for everyone, but they are useful to many and clumsy fonthandling is a serious impediment to mainstream acceptance of the Linuxdesktop. While recent improvements such as anti-aliasing support in thelatest version of Do you think current Linux font handling is adequate? Tell Evanin the TalkBack below or in the ZDNet Linux Forum. Or write to Evandirectly at evan@starnix.com.
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