On Sun, Feb 16, 2003 at 05:22:38PM -0800, Keith Packard wrote:
> Around 20 o'clock on Feb 16, Thomas Zander wrote:
> 
> > why provide a config file that only defines defaults?
> 
> It's a lot like the app-defaults files shipped by many Xt applications, 
> fonts.conf is essentially part of the "normal" fontconfig installation and 
> provides settings as required for normal operation. 
> 
> It can be entirely overridden by applications or users setting the
> FONTCONFIG_FILE or FONTCONFIG_PATH environment variables, so embedding the
> configuration inside the library wouldn't be appropriate; it's always 
> possible someone would want or need to use a completely different font 
> configuration.

Hmm, I'm not convinced that this level of abstraction is needed for the goals
you describe.
You want the user to be able to completely ignore the fonts.conf by providing
a different one, and you want to be able to overwrite the fonts.conf with a
new version in a new version of fontconfig.

A better solution (IMO) would be to provide a /etc/fonts/defaults.conf that
contains what /etc/fonts.conf contains now; but is included from the fonts.conf
when the user chooses to do so.

The advantage is that the user can choose to not include the defaults.conf in
his (never overwritten) fonts.conf.
Another advantage is that the other config you point to with environment
vars can include that default.
My most important point being that the normal file is never overwritten,
since hardly anyone with read the warning anyway, since its the most intuitive
target for your changes..
Naturally the fonts.conf can be provided as you pointed out in the second
part of the email I replied to.

-- 
Thomas Zander
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