[XeTeX] OpenType fonts in Linux?

[Arthur Reutenauer]

> But I'm still not sure about the description in OT font, which is described as 
> TT! (2 || 3) (b-splines || Bézier)? (My math background makes me curious)

  * B-splines and Bézier curves are two names for the same thing.  And they're
    also the same thing as Bernstein polynomials, the ones you use to prove
    Weierstraß' theorem :-)  The B in B-spline is for Bézier, as he's the
    engineer who, decades after Bernstein, discovered the use you could make of
    these polynomials for describing curves (originally in automobile-making).

  * OpenType fonts can have either of quadratic or cubic splines, that's the
    point.  It's mutually exclusive, so it's really “either or”, not “both”.
    OpenType fonts with quadratic splines are “TrueType-flavored”, and those
    with cubic splines are “Type 1 / CFF-flavored”.  CFF is for “Compact Font
    Format”, a derivation and extension of Type 1.

> If the following is right, wikipedia and you mislead me:
> 
> On Monday 30 November 2009 00:27:20 Adam Twardoch (List) wrote:
>> TrueType-flavored OpenType aka OpenType TT aka OpenType TTF
>..
>> store
>> outlines using 3nd-order B-splines

  That's not right, I thing you misquote Adam.

	Arthur