>Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 13:23:32 +0000 >From: Michael Everson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: Supporting the Unicode Project > >At 04:26 -0800 2003-12-05, Peter Kirk wrote: > >>>And then, it appears, you are suggesting that I should suspend my >>>script encoding activities, deal with the (to me) very steep >>>FontLab learning curve to get my SMP fonts working properly, then >>>give them all away for free, and hope that there's some Germanicist >>>out there sitting on a pile of money just waiting for that free >>>Gothic font.... >> >>I had assumed that Everson Typography, which offers "to make >>available high-quality fonts" (from >>http://www.evertype.com/celtscript/index.html), already had the >>expertise required to make such fonts work properly. > >Sigh. > >I think I make nice outlines. People seem to like them. I don't find >the new font tools to be very friendly, however. There are still many >cross-platform problems, if you want to support older as well as >newer systems. Then there's the horror of OT vs AAT and all sorts of >scripting and command-line tools that must be great if you're a >programmer. Perhaps you will forgive me for not investing my abundant >spare time in dealing with such a high learning curve. I already have >enough to do typesetting to pay the rent (fonts don't, especially if >you give them away) in order to fund the time I need to spend on >script proposals and standardization travel. Never mind a mortgage, >given the housing market in the country I live in. > >In an ideal situation, I'd be working on Unicode full-time for the >next eight years doing nothing but script proposals. The world >doesn't seem to be able to offer me such employment, because as I've >said, you can't sell alphabets to anyone. Do you think we enjoy >holding out the begging bowl? We do it because we feel we must. Yet >you've been saying: "Give us more for free." I'm sorry you can't feel >more supportive. We need support. Unicode needs support. The >unencoded scripts need support. >-- >Michael Everson * * Everson Typography * * http://www.evertype.com
Michael, you bring up a very interesting question in my mind, and that is why doesn't the Unicode Consortium simply hire you full-time? Surely the Consortium sets aside funds for support positions and could create the position (of "chief proposer" or whatever the title should be)? Surely the large corporate sponsors of the Consortium can easily find the funding to provide a decent salary and benefits for such a position? Well, consortium members, what about it? If there is something I am missing in suggesting such a position, I'd like to here about it. (As regards your earlier email to the list, Michael, I think it is your kharma, not your dharma, that you want to wonder about)
