On 2008-08-03 18:44, Frank Küster wrote: > I would like to solve a long-standing bug and finally make TeX aware > of libpaper and its system-wide paper size setting.
Good! > However, taking the intersection of paper sizes the different > program's configuration files accept as default, I end up with > a4paper and letter. From Wikipedia [1] it appears that ISO-A and the north American system are the only widespread systems around the world: "By 1977 A4 was the standard letter format in 88 of 148 countries, and today only the U.S. and Canada have not adopted the system. " I guess, that a default respecting A4 and letter is already a nice improvement. Additionally you might consider including A3, A5 and legal, though I don't expect there will be much demand for it. Those with these requirements will rather likely have the skills to adjust it themselves. > On the upstream list, the discussion which papers would make sense as > a system-wide default paper did not lead anywhere. Some said that > only a4paper and letter make sense (my question whether asian or > african countries use nothing else stayed unanswered). If no one steps in to promote different, more exotic formats, I guess these could be left to bug reports. Actually, I don't think there will be any significant demand for other formats as a default *system* paper size [2]. > Some argued that every paper which can be fed to a printer on the > market might be used as default size on a particular system. If you'd like to use a different default, how difficult is the implementation for the user/administrator of the box in question? > Do you have any suggestions? I forwarded your question to d-u. Maybe some 'users' over there have some suggestions of what they use/require... [3] Cheers, Johannes [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size [2] I've done a quick survey on some colleagues from China and Egypt and they confirm that they've never seen a printer's paper size different from A4 or letter in their home countries, while letter is rather rare in Egypt and absent in China. [3] http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2008/08/msg00229.html
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