From: John Hudson (tiro@tiro.com)
Date: Tue Oct 29 2002 - 23:48:10 EST
Two very simple principles can resolve this issue:
1. Encode text using characters that accurately carry the semantic meaning
of the text and which enable text standardised text processing functions
such as sorting, spellchecking and searching.
2. Display the text by selecting a font that provides glyphs for those
characters that correspond to your expectations, tastes and intentions.
There are tens of thousands of fonts in the world, and we wouldn't assume
that all of them should be able to display every text in a manner that
corresponds to everyone's expectations, tastes and intentions. Selecting an
appropriate typeface is the first decision in any typography, and you
cannot bypass this decision. You have to make a choice, and if the glyph
that corresponds to a given character in the chosen font displeases you,
then you have to make another choice: you have to reject the font and
select another one, or you have to hack the font and change the glyph.
There are many fonts that can be used to display a multitude of texts, and
do so in ways that correspond to the expectations, tastes and intentions of
millions of writers and readers. There are some fonts that can only be used
to represent certain texts, and in ways that correspond only to the
expectations, tastes and intentions of a small number of people. There are
entirely idiosyncratic fonts that display text in ways that only the
individuals who made the fonts can read. The value of Unicode is that the
character string behind the display is not tied to a particular display.
John Hudson
Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com
Vancouver, BC tiro@tiro.com
It is necessary that by all means and cunning,
the cursed owners of books should be persuaded
to make them available to us, either by argument
or by force. - Michael Apostolis, 1467
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