Re: X v3.3.3

[ISHIKAWA Mutsumi <ishikawa@linux.or.jp>]

 John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org>
   Subject: Re: X v3.3.3
   Message-ID: <[🔎] 19981209172556.B1865@complete.org>

>> >  These servers has been enhanced with X-TrueType (aka X-TT).
>> > 
>> >  With X-TT, you can use TrueType fonts on the X Window environments
>> > without modifying existing applications, and in the same feel as using
>> > BDF fonts or PCF fonts.
>> 
>> Just out of curiosity, does this provide any advantage that we do not get
>> from the TrueType font server (xfstt)?

The advantages of X-TT over xfsft are as follows:

  - Support for wider character sets:
     * For Western languages
        ASCII
        Any ISO8859 (part 1-11, 14 and 15)
        Any KOI8
     * For Chinese
        Big5ETen
        GB2312
     * For Korean
        KSC5601-0
        KSC5601-1 (EUC encoding)
        KSC5601Wansung
        KSC5601Johab
     * For Japanese
        JISX0201 (ANK)
        JISX0208 (JIS Level 1 and Level 2 Kanji)
        JISX0212 (JIS Auxiliary Kanji)
     * For Viet
        VISCII
        TCVN
     * For Thai
        (ISO-8859-11)        
     * For Unified Character Set
        Unicode (X clients can use it)

  - Charset conversion codes are dynamic loadable modules.  This enables
    users to use required encodings on demand, and there are no worry
    that the needless encodings waste the memory.  Additionally, you can
    add new code converters easily.

  - With the TTCap description, which is an extension for fonts.dir,
    you can use the following features:
      * slanting for non-slanted fonts,
      * pseudo-bolding for non-bold fonts,
      * adjusting font metrics,
      * and selecting the face in TrueType Collection files.

  - X-TT provides both the strict-method and the lazy-method to
    calculate font metrics.  The strict-method is essential to use
    proportional fonts, but we found that such method is far inefficient
    than useful, especially for the fonts containing large number of
    glyphs.  This is caused by a structural defect in the X Window
    System itself.  Xfsft seems to provide only the strict-method to
    calculate font metrics.

  - Server library "libfont" can be built as a shared library.  Thus,
    you will be able to update X-TT to future versions, without
    recompiling your X server, X font server, and applications.

-----
Thu Dec 10 09:12:01 JST 1998
  ISHIKAWA Mutsumi <ishikawa@linux.or.jp>
      a member of X-TT project
      a member of Japan Linux Users Group <ishikawa@linux.or.jp>
      a member of Debian-JP project       <ishikawa@debian.or.jp>