Re: [libreoffice-design] Re: Adding Mittaphap / Droid Sans / Khmer OS Fonts to LibreOffice for Lao, Thai, and Khmer Support

Urmas wrote:

> Any OS can have those installed. Thereis no need to bundle it.

The history of including fonts in the word processing program that is being installed goes back to 
at least the days of the Apple ][. 

The original reason for including fonts, was that that was the only way to ensure that the same 
fonts would be available on every computer on which the software was installed.   Given the 
cross-platform availability of LibO in specific, and office suites in general, that reason is even 
more sound than it was back in 1981.

As if to emphasize the importance of having the correct fonts installed, when viewing/editing a 
document, there is an extension TestFonts, that walks through the Styles used in the document, and 
compares the fonts listed there, with the fonts that are installed, and calls attention to those 
that are "missing".  

For languages that use the Latin writing system, a missing font is not that big of a deal. 

For languages that use BiDi and  CTL writing systems, the presence or absence of a specific font 
usually means the difference between being able to read the file, or seeing a series of blank 
squares, or simply white space. By including fonts in the installation base, users can be 
guaranteed that second and third parties can read/write/edit/view the document.

Individually, the files are not that big.  

Now, if LibO were to ship with a UI for the major languages of the 250 odd writing systems in use 
today, then you might have a legitimate concern, but even so, the rational concern would not be 
with the size of the installed fonts, but with why users can't download and install the version 
that includes the writing system and language that they use, without picking up the 249 other 
writing systems that the user can neither read, nor write.

jonathon
-- 
Sent from the eating establishment at the far end of the univers, at the begining of time.

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