I concur that both shapes can be done bad or well. Espicifically, with regard to the Duden form, I readily agree that the DejaVu Sans ẞ is definitly inferior to the original Duden ẞ.
With regard to the Dresden form, I think that in addition to a rounded top left corner, the top right corner should not be the highest point of the letter. Otherwise, it will topple over at small font sizes. In other words, the top part of the letter should not have a straight line, but a bow. This means I would certainly prefer the Dresden form of Linux Biolinum, Calluna, or Linux Libertine to the Dresden form of Piopa or Vollkorn on Gerhard Großmann's vsz-vergleich.jpg (DejaVu Serif and Old Standard TT are poorly designed because their straight line at the top does not fit in with the letter E). But then again, consider that at the small font sizes I have illustrated, even the Linux Libertine ẞ topples over! So we should not only consider huge font sizes where most designs will look fine, but also tiny font sizes that will reveal the flaws of certain designs. And I still disagree that there is any additional requirement for the ẞ to be especially recognizable as a capital letter. There are only two requirements: • Enough difference to B; • fitting in with other capital letters. Of course, the second requirement will normally mean that the capital ẞ must be different from the small letter ß. Apart from that, however, there is no need of artificially augmenting the distinctness between ß and ẞ. Imagine a font where the small letter ß would already happen to fit in perfectly with the capital letters (maybe in some geometric sans- serif). Is there any reason at all why that font should require a different shape for the capital ẞ? What reason could that be? I think it would be perfectly alright that such a hypothetical font would simply reuse the very same shape of the small ß for the capital ẞ as well. Things would be different if there were an established practice of using the capital ẞ as a standalone capital letter like other capital letters that may contrast with the small counterparts. There is no such thing in the case of ẞ. The very detailed studies of the use of the capital ẞ that have been produced in recent years and that ultimately led to its inclusion in the standard and that have already been cited here show no use of ẞ as a standalone letter. I am not saying that the capital ẞ should look like the small ß. The capital ẞ should fit in with the capital letters, and that's that. We gain nothing at all if in addition to making it look like a capital letter, we also try to making it look distinct from the small ß. -- Expansion: 'ẞ' LATIN CAPTIAL LETTER SHARP S (U+1E9E) https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/650498 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
