[XeTeX] Re: [MacTeX] so, what to do about fonts? (was XeTeX)

[Wendy McKay]

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004, Bruce D'Arcus wrote:
>
> On Apr 15, 2004, at 4:51 AM, Jonathan Kew wrote:
>
>> I don't mind either way. I suspect the "spurt" will die down once
>> we're past the initial flurry of problem reports and wishes, and
>> interest in other systems will revive as people see that standard
>> pdfTeX and friends are better tools for all those people who want to
>> run completely standard, portable TeX documents.
>
> I'd say if the level of xetex-related posts stays fairly high, we need
> a new list.


Those who are discussing XeTeX  can decide if they want to create
another list. For me, it is interesting to see the discussion
even if I don't understand the nitty-gritty details.

Some of you may be aware that TUG is holding
a Practical TeX conference in San Francisco in July 19-22 2004.
	<http://www.tug.org/practicaltex2004/>

I would really like to encourage as many of you to come
so that we can try to connect with Apple and Adobe  directly
with you as TeXperts on hand.

Early registration ends on April 19th (saving $50.).
I can ask the TUG organizers if they would be willing to extend the
discount rate for this group as a special favor.  There are no bursary
allocations for this conference so you would need to ask for help from
your employers or local TeX User Groups in your neighborhood or other
sources.  If you are with a company or university that can appreciate
the volunteer work you are doing, do let them know that we value
your efforts _very highly_ and would appreciate sponsorhip support
for your participation.  If making a donation to TUG earmarked
for support of the MacTeX working group  would make a tax difference as 
a
donation and thus not cost them much, then please use this mechanism.

Hans Hagen (giving multiple talks and a ConTeXt workshop) and Richard 
Koch
will be there.

I would like to suggest that as many people interested in MacTeX/Fonts
issues (especially developers and TeXperts) try to attend so we can 
have a
meaningful pow-wow session.  I would try to get both Adobe and Apple
engineers to come and see a TeXshowcase presentation and discuss the 
issues.
If they can't make it because of Macworld in Boston preceding it, then 
San
Francisco is sufficiently close to Cupertino and San Jose for us  to
arrange a day trip excursion and meet with them at their home base if 
this
can be pre-arranged.

We already have established connections with Adobe on Font bugs
and a plug-in for  Adobe programs.  Apple has provided great support for
TUG2003 and is being asked to do the same for Practical TeX.  I think
this is a good opportunity to get our act together to improve
communications with Apple by human contact so they can feel the 
enthusiasm
of the group and see the potential usefulness of making TeX more easily
accessible to the world.

We can also  _try_ to do an iChat/iStorm/Subethaedit/ session
(or  teleconference if this can be sponsored)  with those not able to
attend and want to participate.

The goal is to make TeX easy to use and install on the Mac with
as many fonts as possible so that it is attractive to a wider market of
users and would enhance sales of Macs and Software.  This is the
bottom line for Apple and Adobe.
The optimal solution would be for Apple to embrace
the idea and distribute TeX as part of its Open Source Programs
and work with TeX developers.

Let me know (offlist, if you wish) if any of you think this
would be a good idea and would like for this to be arranged
and/or participate.


BTW, if any of you are planning to go to BachoTeX Poland: April 30-May 
3,
2004
http://www.gust.org.pl/BachoTeX/2004/en/
John Plaice and Hans Hagen are giving talks there.
Since communication from the Omega group is sparse by email,
would it be possible to make a list of questions to be presented to
John and see if Hans can get some answers that might help the
XeTeX  development?    (Sorry Hans,  more work... can you help
or advise?  -)


Bruce, apologies for interrupting your question but
maybe improving Apple-TeX communciations would help towards getting an
answer to your question below.  Just a thought and a hope. -)

-- wendy


>> XeTeX isn't attempting to "compete" in the standard TeX world. I hope
>> it will be able to process standard documents using standard fonts
>> correctly (and clearly it's not there yet!), it will never be as
>> efficient as pdfTeX for that purpose. But its purpose is to provide a
>> high-end typesetting tool that works easily with Unicode and AAT
>> fonts, and in particular with complex scripts. To achieve that, it
>> sacrifices platform independence and source document portability. And
>> for many users, that's a price not worth paying, I realize that.


> Which brings us back to the original question:
>
> What's the best way to have Mac fonts like Hoefler Text, Gill Sans,
> etc. work "out of the box" for Mac OS X TeX users?
>
> Gerben, did you hear back from Apple on the licensing issue involved
> with converting the fonts?
>
> Bruce
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/mactex
>


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