[XeTeX] installing mac font on linux

[Michiel Kamermans]

Hi Tim,

> Yes, it's Font Book, the mac app. And you're right, the font files 
> were 0 byte files.
>
> With your help and Michiel's, I finally figured out that I had bought 
> TrueType and needed OpenType. A quick trip to buy the opentype version 
> of URW's Lucida Handwriting and my linux server is business. unzipped 
> the file on the shared webserver into the user's local ~/.fonts 
> directory and everything works.
>

Hmm, but TrueType fonts should not be a problem for XeTeX... 0-byte 
fonts, of course, would be =)

When a foundry sells both TrueType and OpenType versions of the same 
font, it just means the first is an OpenType font with TrueType outlines 
-- these started as the standard windows format, use quadratic bezier 
for curves, and allows either outline or 'other glyphs' as building 
blocks. The curves are not as precise as type2, but need less 
coordinates, too -- and the second is an OpenType font with type2 
outlines -- an update and rewrite of adobe's type1 format, which defines 
curves in terms of cubic bezier, meaning more data, but allows any 
series of outline instruction as subroutine by any number of glyphs, 
making the fonts drastically smaller.

Both are understood by XeTeX (with or without fontspec).

- Mike