Resolution indpendence

Sean Estabrooks seanlkml at sympatico.ca
Fri Jun 27 14:37:59 PDT 2008


On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:34:23 +0100
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com> wrote:

> I care about AA text. Specifically, it matters quite a lot to me that
> I never have to look at it. The only time that scalable fonts make
> sense is if you absolutely have to display some text at an exact size
> (i.e. desktop publishing). Even in cases where there are *some* layout
> constraints (e.g. diagrams), choosing the nearest bitmap font size is
> usually perfectly adequate.

As soon as you admit that there are cases where scalable fonts are desirable
you must begrudgingly accept that people will endeavor to support them.
This thread is not about a return to fixed-sized fonts, rather it is about
supporting scalable fonts (and other GUI elements) in a more consistent
manner.

Anyway, a system which supports scalable fonts can trivially support
pixel based fonts, whereas the reverse just isn't true.  So far, i haven't
seen where any of your ideas can be used to improve scalable font
rendering.

> The notion that AA text is a good idea is a classic example of reverse
> reasoning. Starting with the quasi-religious ...

More proof that Goodwin's law needs to be updated to include accusations
of religiosity against anyone with a differing view.

Sean



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