[tex-eplain] Is there a list of fonts usable by TeX alone, or aTeX command to return names?

[Laurence.Finston at gmx.net]

> Computer Modern may be lovely in print, and superior for math, but it's horrible on the eyes on a computer screen.

This is subjective.  I like the way it looks and I use it for displays, e.g., in my YouTube videos.  In fine typesetting, the individual fonts have different proportions at different type sizes.  This is the case for Computer Modern but it is not for the standard PostScript fonts.  They use a rather crude compromise:  They are designed to look okay at any reasonable magnification.  If the ascenders and descenders are too thin for a given application, I will sometimes use the bold extended fonts.

I think it's really too bad that METAFONT is virtually obsolete as a tool for making fonts.  I think the concept behind METAFONT is superior and would use Computer Modern for that reason alone, even if I didn't like them as much.  Knuth never claimed to be a type designer and it's a shame that MF hasn't found acceptance among real type designers.  The CM fonts are also extremely well-documented, which I doubt can be said for most other computer-generated fonts.

I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about using PostScript or other non-MF fonts with TeX except what's in the MetaPost, eplain and Kpathsea manuals.