A suggestion: Read the whole message first, then reply :-) You think commercial fonts like Arial are perfect, and that TNR is the path to Nirvana. They are not -- they are just "good enough" and if want to make them better than that, you cannot -- you are simply not allowed. This what the concept of Free fonts are supposed to avoid, and this is what freedom is about. To have the freedom to redistribute is one of the other issues.
How would you like it if you were not allowed to improve your Mercedes (yes, not everyone can improve Mercedes, but I believe some can)? How about not being allowed to look under the hood? Then you say no one can make good fonts for free. Well, Linux is how many millions lines of code? What about XFree86? Who would have thought it was possible (that was just 2 examples)? Some get paid for improving these projects and some don't, and the same could applied to font development. Main fonts aren't like "just another windows manager", fonts is a pretty basic and important part of a functional graphical system that cannot be ignored. I'm not expecting RedHat to contribute financially to this in the near future, but that's understandable because there are other even more basic system parts that aren't finished yet. However, I believe that at some point in the future the focus will shift and we will see more improvements in the area of fonts (and everything that has to do with them, like for example Unicode support). I have nothing against you using Microsoft's fonts. If you are satisfied with the fonts Microsoft provides, then "shut up and be happy" so to speak :-) Really, if you don't want to contribute to Free font projects, no one is trying to make you. I don't understand why you are so negative of the whole idea that other people might like? Remember the philosophy about having a choice? In reply to Alexander you say development would take a long time. Yes, it will take long time. Is that your only objection? How long it will to make some Free usable fonts is something neither you nor I can predict, but time is irrelevant. Time will not give you more freedom. You can wait an eternity for Microsoft to fix/extend Arial and nothing will happen -- is that your choice? What is it exactly that YOU suggest? Do you suggest that we settle with fonts from Microsoft? Do you suggest that we settle with fonts with restrictions such as, quoted from EULA, not be able to reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, rename, edit, create any derivative works or distribute for profit? I suggest we create a foundation for creation of fonts where there is community that promotes sharing of fonts types, designs and ideas with a goal to create great fonts that all people can enjoy. A single person cannot make a great font, but a community can (this is something I choose to believe until someone convinces me of something else). Vadim Plessky wrote: > I can assure you that typical (Windows) users is not aware that > something against Arial and TNR exist. I can assure you that typical (Windows) users are not aware that something better than Windows exists. Your logic is simply flawed, or just doesn't apply here. > As experienced users are already happy on subject, I see no way how > your proposal can succeed. Perhaps YOU are satisfied with existing fonts from XFree86 and Microsoft, but I am not. Of course, I could spend thousands of dollars on Adobe font collections, but I don't see why it should be the only alternative. Do you? For example, right now I use Andale Mono in my XTerms. Well, you know what? There is no bold style for it, and that actually sucks. What do you suggest in this case? Ask Microsoft to make such style? Also, the vertical bar for border drawings is too short so there are gaps in the borders. Can I fix this legally? Can I share my improvements with you in a simple manner? > Don't you expect that newbies will design/hint fonts, do you? Heh, of course not, just as I don't expect newbies making kernel device drivers (or even patches for that matter). -- Sergej Malinovski [http://dreamer.nitro.dk] _______________________________________________ Fonts mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/fonts
