On Thu, 21 Aug 2003, William Crowshaw wrote:
>
> --- Wolfgang Pfeiffer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Does anybody out there know, whether there is a
> > single human being among
> > the Debian folks who is aware of the fact that a
> > font system like the one
> > on Debian is not only a bad joke but, if I see this
> > correctly, simply
> > gaga? That this font system is definitely unusable?
> > And I'd bet it's not
> > only unusable for non-X-coders but even for the
> > X-developers themselves.
> >
> > My guess is this mess is a Debian-specific one, i.e.
> > one that was
> > caused by the way the Debian folks organize the
> > fonts on Debian, and not
> > one which is caused by the X-developers. Am I right?
> >
>
> Whoa...wrong guess...don't go blaming debian quite yet
> the X font situation. Blame the X development team
> for the numerous config files. Its a feature, not a
> bug - which is arguable. As far as font handling goes,
> blame that on X too.
>
> Debian has attempted a solution to some of these
> problems with debian specific programs such as defoma
> and ttcidfont packages, but I think they've been a
> dismal failure -- too complicated to use, more config
> files, inadequate recognition of fonts between
> different programs. I think the defoma software
> developer him/herself stopped developing the software
> and its up for adoption. I personally would like to
> put it out of its misery and start again, but I'm not
> a debian developer for alot of reasons. I also
> wouldn't mind seeing some cross polination between
> other distributions when it comes to font handling.
> What's healthy for the linux kernel should be healthy
> for linux distributions as well. But I haven't
> researched the issue because I'm unable (due to debian
> policies) to develop debian specific apps.
>
> In the mean time, I stick to installing fonts the old
> fashion way, manipulating config files, etc and trying
> to find a happy medium where fonts will be recognized
> generally in the same way by X, OpenOffice, and gs,
> but its certainly a balancing act.
>
> Hopefully your complaints about font handling will be
> heeded and taken up by the debian desktop usability
> group. In my opinion, this is a major issue that they
> should attempt to resolve.
>
> > Situations like that is why I say that Debian-Linux
> > does not work for
> > people with a girl-friend or a family, or for folks
> > who need to get a job
> > done on a computer in a reasonable amount of time.
>
> Sorry, but debian has never been know as a user linux
> distribution. Its prefered by developers and advanced
> users, because it doesn't hold your hand very much.
That's what my prejudice is towards Debian. But as it
seems, the situation which can lead to such a prejudice is
something some Debian people ("debian desktop usability
group", above) are trying to change; if I understand your
lines from above correctly ...
And to avoid misunderstandings:
It's important to understand that I did not want to
criticise the fact that Linux users often have the pleasure
of being able to choose among different programs/tools
which often (?) actually do more or less the same thing.
Choice on Linux is definitely a feature, not a bug.
The point is that people need, for example, good docs
on how the software works they are trying to run.
Or at least well commented config files.
I don't want software that works without
my intervention. That's one reason I went away from
Windows 98. But another reason I quit were the
insufficient docs that were shipped with Windows.
So when I was writing on sometimes lousy organization
of Debian software I tried to point the finger to the
usability of the software, not to its quality:
Who can use software without knowing how it works?
To know what I mean one might try to find some docs
about msttcorefonts that are shipped with the tool .. :)
Nice weekend :)
Best Regards,
Wolfgang
> I could argue with you about why this is a "good
> thing" (tm), but there arguments are too numerous and
> easily available in other mailing lists.
>
--
Profile, Links:
http://profiles.yahoo.com/wolfgangpfeiffer
