[XeTeX] XeTeX 0.99 released

[Adam Twardoch]

Ross Moore wrote:
> So XeTeX ...
>   (a)  needs to know where to find uninstalled fonts;
>   (b)  could check for and temporarily install any needed fonts;
>   (c)  do what it does now, when processing the document
>        to build the PDF;
>   (d)  remove the temporary fonts, once  xdv2pdf  is done.
>
> I dunno what step (b) would entail, but surely the rest
> is easy.  :-)

I think the concept of "installed fonts" is somewhat unnatural. If one 
wants to use an EPS file, or a JPG file, you just refer to the the file 
by its path name. But fonts are treated differently -- they are 
registered (installed) on the system. The sole sensible reason for that 
is that in GUI applications, the system normally prents font names in a 
human-readable form in a font menu. These internal names are also useful 
to present fonts grouped into families. The concept originates from the 
time where filenames on many systems were limited to 8.3 characters. 
These days, even in GUI applications, one could imagine that a central 
system registry for fonts is not really a requirement. It is even less a 
logical requirement for a TeX system. Since writing in TeX is usually 
"coding", there is no conceptual problem that would advocate against 
simply referring to font files by their pathnames.

A.

-- 

Adam Twardoch
http://www.twardoch.com/