Hi, Answers inline...
On Fri, 3 Oct 2025 at 20:12, Ihor Radchenko <[email protected]> wrote: > > Pedro Andres Aranda Gutierrez <[email protected]> writes: > > > As I have stated before, there are differences in the way you code the > > font configurations in babel and polyglossia which would make them odd > > for people who are familiar with either package. In addition to that, > > both have their unique features. So having a common configuration base > > would mean that a user would need to know the specifics from early on. > > My fear is that this would be a considerable entry barrier for people > > unfamiliar with LaTeX. I'd rather keep them, therefore, separated. > > I do not oppose having the configuration separated. What I do want > though is finding the common parts and making sure that the common parts > are configured in the same way. > > > I would rather finish the process as is now and then think about a > > possible merge of both variables in a new one. Introducing it, we > > could talk about compromises and give the users a coarse (for all) and > > a fine-tune button (for the experts). > > > > WDYT? > > We can postpone this discussion if I wish to. ??? > I will then move on to other comments. > > I re-reviewed the latest version of the manual on the branch, and > I'd like to suggest a rewrite for the #+LATEX_MULTI_LANG keyword > description: > 1. I changed the default values to be more descriptive I personally would keep nil instead of none, since it is a well established standard in Emacs. Regarding the only-fonts value, if we really don't like t, we should use "fontspec" We are using the LaTeX package names already, so why not use it in this case too... > 2. I tried to rewrite the descriptions to be understood > by people not too familiar with LaTeX internals. Change proposals inline inline > Let me know what you think. > > - =LATEX_MULTI_LANG= :: > > #+cindex: @samp{LATEX_MULTI_LANG}, keyword > #+vindex: org-latex-multi-lang > #+vindex: org-export-default-language > > The strategy to handle multi-lingual features. Possible values > are ~"polyglossia"~, ~"babel"~, ~only-fonts~ or ~none~. are ~nil~, ~"fontspec"~, ~"polyglossia"~ or ~"babel"~. > > By default, LaTeX language settings should be configured manually, by When this variable is nil, the LaTeX language features need to be configured manually, > specifying appropriate LaTeX headers (see ~#+LATEX_HEADER~ keyword). > For convenience, if the LaTeX headers load =babel= or =polyglossia=, > you can use word =AUTO= in the package options to automatically > specify language according to the Org's =#+LANGUAGE= keyword. specify the document's main language according to ... > #+BEGIN_EXAMPLE > #+LANGUAGE: es > #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[AUTO]{babel} > or > #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[AUTO]{polyglossia} > #+END_EXAMPLE > #+texinfo: @noindent > would tell LaTeX to use the ~babel~ package to create a document > with Spanish headers. > > When =#+LATEX_MULTI_LANG= is set to ~fontspec~, Org mode will ... is set to "fontspec" ... > configure the font defaults using LaTeX's ~fontspec~ package. > Note that ~fontspec~ can configure the fonts either globally (for > all the languages used in the document), or for different character > sets (for example, ~emoji~, ~han~, ~kana~). See [[#lualatex-fontspec]] > for more details. Beware that ~fontspec~ does not work with > =pdflatex= compiler. We recommend using =lualatex= or =xelatex= for > reliable non-latin language support. > > When =#+LATEX_MULTI_LANG= is either ~babel~ or ~polyglossia~, Org mode > will configure the corresponding LaTeX package to handle > multi-language support. =LANGUAGE= option will be used to determine > the main and secondary languages. For example: > #+BEGIN_SRC org :results none :exports code > ,#+LANGUAGE: fr de es > ,#+LATEX_MULTI_LANG: polyglossia > #+END_SRC > #+texinfo: @noindent > sets multi-language handling to use =polyglossia= in a document, where > the main language (i.e. header, figure, table names) and typesetting > options use French and there are passages in German and Spanish. > > ~babel~ and ~polyglossia~ are recommended over using ~fontspec~ as they > both provide language-specific typographical rules, in addition to ~babel~ and ~polyglossia~ should be used for non-English documents. Both provide... > setting up the fonts. ~babel~ and ~polyglossia~ can also set fonts > per-language. [Side comment: babel and polyglossia *use* fontspec. So this] > - more fine-grained control compared to ~fontspec~. Leave this out. > > See [[#lualatex-polyglossia]] and [[#babel-fontconfig]] for more > details about ~babel~ and ~polyglossia~ configuration. Beware > that ~polyglossia~ does not work with =pdflatex= compiler. We > recommend using =lualatex= or =xelatex= for reliable non-latin > language support. > > -- > Ihor Radchenko // yantar92, > Org mode maintainer, > Learn more about Org mode at <https://orgmode.org/>. > Support Org development at <https://liberapay.com/org-mode>, > or support my work at <https://liberapay.com/yantar92> We are all in a learning process here. My current approach to rationalising all this is that 1.- We should always recommended to choose a Unicode font that covers all the scripts. 2.- babel/polyglossia should be used to activate typesetting rules for non-English documents. 3.- When a script is not included in a font, we can use fallback fonts w/fontspec for English docs or babel/polyglossia for non-English documents I'm using this approach with my students too and it seems to work (ie. they seem to understand it better this way) Best, /PA -- Fragen sind nicht da, um beantwortet zu werden, Fragen sind da um gestellt zu werden Georg Kreisler Sagen's Paradeiser, write BE! Year 1 of the New Koprocracy
