Xref: utzoo news.groups:2734 alt.config:92 comp.text:1629 comp.lang.postscript:285
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!necntc!ima!trb
From: trb@ima.ISC.COM (Andrew Tannenbaum)
Newsgroups: news.groups,alt.config,comp.text,comp.lang.postscript
Subject: Re: fonts newsgroup
Message-ID: <900@ima.ISC.COM>
Date: 4 Mar 88 19:11:05 GMT
References: <2711@gryphon.CTS.COM> <1988Mar3.210010.4147@utzoo.uucp>
Reply-To: trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum)
Organization: Interactive Systems, Boston, MA
Lines: 36
Keywords: why?

In article <1988Mar3.210010.4147@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
> No, creating the newsgroup will not magically create discussions in it.
> This sounds plausible in theory but it doesn't work that way in practice.

I find the repetition of this idea tiring.  If you want to ask why,
then do so.  Just saying that "it sounds plausible in theory but
doesn't work in practice" is a handwave.  There is plenty of junk on
the netwaves; font issues might not be immediately important to you,
but they are plenty important to lots of people in our industry, and
they're indirectly important to everyone who is reading this message.

Here are some reasons for a fonts group:

Until now, font management has been monopolized by font factories like
ITC and AM Varityper (for instance).  The little people were not
allowed access to formats, and we were stuck with what was sold to us
(or, more accurately, rammed up our bodily orifices in exchange for
large sums of money).  Now, the price of finer resolution (100-1500
dpi) output devices has left us with the problem of co-ordinating fonts
for screens, laser printers, and other goofy devices, everything from
plotters to routers to matrix printers to tv graphics boxes.  Many/most
manufacturers are still stuck in the dark ages, each with their own
proprietary formats.  If you tell them that you'd like to provide a
uniform interface to the fonts in your products, they shrug their
shoulders and dare you to try.

There are internationalization issues, format standardization and
conversion issues, discussions of available software, techniques, and
works in progress.

Many of these discussions don't fit in comp.text or comp.text.postscript.

A netnews group would be a good forum to discuss this problem, whether
or not uninterested parties think the discussion bloom at a rate that
pleases them.  I just hope we get enough votes.

	Andrew Tannenbaum   Interactive   Boston, MA   +1 617 247 1155