While looking through the deb-user archives for some font-related info, I discovered that there is still an insane amount of confusion regarding fonts under XFree86. Googling, which new users tend to rely on, results in myriad yet often contracting font guides.
The two biggies--The Font De-Uglification HowTo and the Font Howto--are outdated and hopelessly outdated, respectively. They both contain a wealth of important info, but, alas, that info is likely to send new users down a very dark tunnel of inexorable agitation. I know, I was one of them. Another problem with these guides is their breadth--they cover too wide a set of topics, and they are not Debian specific. The closest--and still the best--guide is Paul D. Smith's TrueType fonts guide, but that covers TT fonts only. Ugly fonts bothered me immensely when I first made the switch from Windows to GNU/Linux, and I know how frustrating trying to pull bits of (mostly outdated) information from various howtos can be. So, I plan to create a guide for a very specific group of people: those new to both Linux and Debian--or those who simply want a consise, pithy guide to getting pretty fonts in Debian. This guide will cover *only* stand-alone workstations. As of Xfree 4.x, it is absolutely unnecessary to run a font server if serving fonts isn't a requisite, i.e. most users. It will also cover on Woody stable. There will be no information on configuring fonts for specific applications (not yet, anyway), but simply for X. So, I'd like peoples' thoughts on this. Is it necessary? Should I change the focus, etc. etc. Personally, I feel there needs to be a down-and-dirty guide to fonts to complement the great general information on fonts in the aforementioned guides; something to get new users going without them having to become experts on fontography. Let me know what you think. Sincerely, M. Kirchhoff -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
