[OS X TeX] Font files clarified

[Adrian Heathcote]

Thanks Ross

here is Thomas Esser's confirmation of your point.

Can i ask further to this issue whether pdftex uses the vf files that
are necessary for dvips? Or can they be absent entirely?

No, pdftex needs the vf files.

Thomas

> Certainly fonts are usable without vf's, but you will run into trouble
> with ligatures and accents if you try this.
> The result will be that  fi fl ff  just disappears from quite common 
> words.
> Also, greek capitals will not be available for mathematics; and there
> are a few other quirky things that will happen.
>
> You *can* get around the quirks by writing macros to draw the characters
> from different positions --- but that will tie your document source
> to work correctly with only the fonts for which you have tuned it,
> via such extra macros. A major purpose of virtual fonts was to make such
> font/macro dependencies unnecessary, so that you can choose a different
> font for your document without having to worry about whether you still
> get the right characters everywhere.
>
>
> Have fun,
>
> 	Ross Moore

I'd have more fun if there were an up to date guide on these matters. 
But half the fun of Tex is coming to undersatnd its complexities.

Adrian Heathcote
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