[Fontinst] latest fixes for fontinst 1.914

[Reinhard Kotucha]

>>>>> "Walter" == Walter Schmidt <w-a-schmidt at arcor.de> writes:

    > However, what are the consequences, as far as the use of the
    > Palatino fonts is concerned?  Under the assumption that most TeX
    > systems are using URW's fonts anyway, we can stay with version
    > 001.005 of the AFMs.  In the long run however, we'll have to
    > give up the idea of "Base fonts", and PSNFSS needs to be fully
    > oriented towards explicit use of the URW fonts.  But that's a
    > different subject...

What about the following idea?

Leave the base fonts as they are (metrics for Adobe fonts, no font
downloading) and provide support for URW fonts, ie. upalatino.sty,
utimes.sty... which uses URW metrics and forces downloading of the
fonts.

This would still allow people to create small files using built in
fonts but at the risk that they are replaced by some programs
(Helvetica->Arial).  There is no need then to change the concept of
"base fonts" and thus no need for a new FAQ.  Only glyphs that are in
the original LW35 fonts should be supported to avoid problems with
font replacement and to be as compatible as possible.

On the other hand, if the user wants to use URW fonts, it would be the
best solution to provide a macro package so that he does not have to
understand the underlying system and does not have to edit map files.

A URW font package could support all the glyphs provided by URW.
There are /Euro symbols in each text font that are not present in
Adobe fonts.  And because the fonts are downloaded and cannot be
replaced, adding faked glyphs is quite reliable.  And Thanh's
vietnamese extensions to URW fonts could be supported as well.

http://vinux.sourceforge.net

Just moving the existing PSNFSS towards URW fonts might cause
compatibility problems.

Regards,
  Reinhard

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Reinhard Kotucha			             Phone: +49-511-27060390
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