Re: gnome-screensaver use circles in password field

[William Jon McCann <mccann jhu edu>]

Hi Vincent,

Vincent Untz wrote:
> Le mercredi 22 f�ier 2006 �9:27 -0500, William Jon McCann a �it :
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'd like to make gnome-screensaver use a black circle as the "invisible" 
> > character in password fields instead of an asterisk [1]?  OS X and XP 
> > both do this.
> >
> > Besides that I think it has some advantages:
> >
> >   * It is cleaner (no edges)
> >   * It is easier to see (for a11y and on LCD screens in sunlight)
> >   * It isn't a character that is commonplace on most keyboards
> >
> > The usability list seems to support this and some are surprised that we 
> > aren't using this already.
>
> Just a small note (even if it has been approved): what happens if the
> font does not have the glyph for this character? I believe this is the
> reason we're still using asterisks by default...

I'm not really sure since all the fonts I have on my system have it.  I 
guess it would either be a substitute character or no character at all. 
 I'm not sure either of those results would be deal breakers.  And the 
best result will be that the font will get fixed.

Jon