On 04/18/2001 10:30:56 AM "James Kass" wrote:
>> Indeed there's no alternative, and so I don't knock them in the
slightest.
>> But there's also no question that their TrueType font is a hack of
Unicode,
>> as the attached GIF makes clear: e.g. U+0031 DIGIT ONE is mapped to
glyph
>> ID 20, which is clearly not a digit one in that font.
>>
>
>Actually, it is the number one.
May well be, but it still isn't U+0031 DIGIT ONE.
>We disagree on where the use of term "hack" is appropriate,
>but agree on many more important items.
Yes. To me, saying it's a "hack" doesn't mean I think it shouldn't be done.
It does create issues for users when they start using software that really
cares about the semantics of character codes, though, and so they need to
be used with care -- there are definite caveats that need to be presented
with them. A caveat carries a negative connotation just as the term "hack",
though perhaps not as severe. I don't see how you can avoid negative
connotations altogether.
I have not always used the term "hacks"; I have otherwise said, "fonts that
masquerade as cp1252 / Unicode". Perhaps that is more acceptable to you.
>Such fonts aren't hacks because they aren't Times New Roman
>with the insides scooped out and new glyphs added. They
>aren't hacks because no-one had to break any encryption or
>steal any passwords. There's nothing surreptitious or
>underhanded about the development of these fonts, it's
>all quite above-board.
You and I and most of the rest of us know what's going on. It's our
software that doesn't since it is assuming other semantics for character
codes.
>In many cases, they are true works of art produced by
>typographers using whatever level of font editing technology
>they could acquire. The font editing tools enabled them to
>create their fonts from scratch, but they had to use the editor's
>built in mapping features in order for their fonts to display.
As type design, works of art. As software engineering, hacks necessitated
by the inherent limitations of the OSes and applications they need to work
with.
- Peter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Constable
Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485
E-mail: <peter_constable@sil.org>
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