From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.comp.tex.context/19561 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Thomas A.Schmitz Newsgroups: gmane.comp.tex.context Subject: Re: chancery font Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:10:02 +0200 Message-ID: <4aed416dad30059562e80ad2bfd8018a@uni-bonn.de> References: <42ADAC66@webmail.colostate.edu> Reply-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v619.2) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1112548253 12934 80.91.229.2 (3 Apr 2005 17:10:53 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 17:10:53 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Sun Apr 03 19:10:51 2005 Return-path: Original-Received: from ronja.vet.uu.nl ([131.211.172.88] helo=ronja.ntg.nl) by ciao.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1DI8cN-0007T7-AL for gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org; Sun, 03 Apr 2005 19:10:35 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 00FBC128BD; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:16 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from ronja.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (ronja.vet.uu.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 02422-02; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:11 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from ronja.vet.uu.nl (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 77BA5127CC; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:11 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from localhost (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2E02F127CC for ; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:10 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from ronja.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (ronja.vet.uu.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 02371-04-2 for ; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:09 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from mailout06.sul.t-online.com (mailout06.sul.t-online.com [194.25.134.19]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5837C127C3 for ; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:09 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from fwd18.aul.t-online.de by mailout06.sul.t-online.com with smtp id 1DI8dt-0003OR-01; Sun, 03 Apr 2005 19:12:09 +0200 Original-Received: from [192.168.0.2] (rPaK1mZvQevsxoehi8MqkP92nVBzgfzx5c8CYHL8lLpST2yTyZ1+w8@[217.226.96.93]) by fwd18.sul.t-online.de with esmtp id 1DI8do-0llHgO0; Sun, 3 Apr 2005 19:12:04 +0200 In-Reply-To: <42ADAC66@webmail.colostate.edu> Original-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.619.2) X-ID: rPaK1mZvQevsxoehi8MqkP92nVBzgfzx5c8CYHL8lLpST2yTyZ1+w8@t-dialin.net X-TOI-MSGID: 706e92c1-ac3f-4c26-9403-0fc07d9100c1 X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at ntg.nl X-BeenThere: ntg-context@ntg.nl X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: mailing list for ConTeXt users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Errors-To: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at ntg.nl Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.comp.tex.context:19561 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.comp.tex.context:19561 On Apr 3, 2005, at 6:15 PM, Idris Samawi Hamid wrote: > As Ciro suggested, what what would be useful is a gui that completely > automates the process and that asks all relevant questions and > generates > everything ConTeXt needs to install and run Latin fonts, including > expert > fonts like Minion.**** (Maybe oneday the gui can be extended for > Chinese, > Arabic, etc.) > Idris, I disagree strongly. First: fonts are a complex business, and when you venture outside of the normal Western character range, things start to get really messy (I speak from experience, having just completed work on Greek Extended). I'm not saying a GUI will never be able to cope with all this complicated stuff. But I do think that an extraordinary amount of work would be needed to catch all the exceptions, ifs and buts that would be involved. And I do think that this work could better be spent on other, much more important business. To be honest: in my personal opinion (and this is a very personal opinion), die-hard GUI users who just loathe the command line should not be using TeX. I also think that despite all the efforts that ConTeXt makes, it would be rash to make inexperienced users believe that handling fonts in TeX is a simple matter of pointing and clicking. The frustration would be huge when things do not work out as expected - and they will. In a way, the current state puts a gentle, but firm sign on font handling saying "This might be a bit difficult. Be warned!" And I don't think this is a bad thing. No offense, but that's what I think about this issue. Best Thomas