I'm currently in the process of changing somewhat the core bitmaps
fonts system in order to simplify it and extend its functionality.
Because the planned changes will break some users' configurations[1],
David suggested that the core server should include Keith's
``builtin'' fonts, and that builtin should be implicitly added to the
font path. Because builtin fonts include the fonts that the server
absolutely needs to function (fixed and cursor), this would make sure
that the server can start whatever the fonts (mis-)configuration.
In the longer term, as client-side fonts become the norm, we could
kill the core fonts system altogether and only keep the built-in fonts
for compatibility with the protocol.
Unfortunately, the built-in fonts code, in its current state, is not
useful for that.
Indeed, the current built-in code pulls in much of the PCF code (which
is exactly what I'm in the process of eliminating), much of the local
FPE code (which I hope to eliminate later), and much of the fontfile
code (which must go at some point). In object-oriented terms, it
inherits from the current (``legacy'') PCF code rather than being a
completely independent implementation of the FPE interface.
Rewriting built-in fonts from scratch in a manner such that they can
be included in the core server would not be a big job, and I will be
glad to help anyone who volunteers to do that. If nobody does, I'll
probably do it at some point.
For now, I'm going to break users' configurations without the
``builtin'' safety net. Watch this space for further updates[1].
Juliusz
[1] I haven't quite made up my mind about how to handle it, but I
expect that the ``bitmap'' module will no longer be loaded
automatically. Thus, one day you'll cvs update, make World, and
if you don't load either bitmap or freetype, stuff will break. If
you explicitly load either bitmap or freetype, you should be fine.
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