RE: Pango information, fonts (was RE: New release of GTK+ libraries(1.3.11))

[Edward Cherlin <edward webforhumans com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: otaylor fresnel labs redhat com
> [mailto:otaylor fresnel labs redhat com]On Behalf Of Owen Taylor
> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 8:39 AM
>
> Edward Cherlin <edward webforhumans com> writes:
>
> > I see that the pango.org pages have not been updated in
> more than a year.
> > Can I assist?
>
> For a while I didn't have access to the machine where pango.org was
> updated (and for longer, just didn't have to getting around to
> updating it.)
>
> I've now done some minimal updates so at least it doesn't look
> the project is dead.

Yes, the Status section is quite helpful now. I suggest adding pointers on
the front page to the mailing list and CVS module, and an FAQ. I'm
volunteering to gather questions and answers for the FAQ. We can start here.

What software uses Pango? (GIMP and ?)

Does Pango require GTK+ or GNOME? (No)

Which writing systems are properly supported with fonts and rendering?
(European, CJK, and ?)

Which other writing systems will be supported? (There are 30+ in Unicode,
and 200+ not yet encoded.)

What fonts can I use for my writing system? (pointers)

Where can I find out more? (pointers)

How can I help? (pointers)

etc.


> If you are interested in doing some updating of the content, I
> would appreciate the assistance. The web site is in GNOME
> CVS as the "pango-web" module
> (http://developer.gnome.org/tools/cvs.html)
>
> If you have changes, you can send me patches against this
> module and I'll apply them; if this ends up being to much of a
> hassle, I can get you a CVS account.)

I'll stick to fonts and documentation.

> > Also, there appears to be a serious lack of fonts. I would like to
> > contribute free Unicode OpenType fonts, if I can find out
> which ones are
> > needed.
>
> Well, I think the answer is "all of them" ;-)

OK, I'll compile a list of resources for "all of them", starting with
Unicode 3.1.

> More seriously, decent fonts can be obtained for the East
> Asian and European languages, but much less so for the languages
> of the Middle East, South and South-east Asia.
>
> (There are some TrueType fonts out there for many of these languages,
> but they are typically some combination of:
>
>  - Under unclear or no licensing so they aren't redistributable
>  - Badly encoded
>  - Low quality
>
> With the first being perhaps the biggest problem.)

I'll see what I can do about all of these problems, especially licensing.

> Regards,
>                                         Owen