Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 13:44:06 -0500 From: Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org> To: Andrew McKay <birminghamweb@freeuk.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: banner(6) Message-ID: <15071.12790.558553.182177@guru.mired.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0104191923120.6961-100000@fluoxetine.openirc.co.uk> References: <15071.4885.960509.549593@guru.mired.org> <Pine.BSF.4.21.0104191923120.6961-100000@fluoxetine.openirc.co.uk>
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Andrew McKay <birminghamweb@freeuk.com> types: > MM> Just because non-scalable fonts (someone got a better retronym?) don't > MM> produce many fonts doesn't mean that scalable fonts can't, in much the > MM> same way that analog watches always having hands don't mean that > MM> digital watches have to have them. > It does if you use 'watch' to define 'a device to indicate the passage of > time using hands pointing at numbers' and 'wibble' to define 'a device > used to indicate the passage of time using electronic digits'. If the 'a > rendering of a typeface in a specific size and weight' then a 'scalable > font' is as oxymoronic as 'a static perambulator', 'a plastic glass' or > the old favourite 'military intelligence'. This is especially true seeing > as the word 'typeface' exists to define 'the information dictating the > style of a font'. I *think* that's the point Brett has been trying to > make. I've never seen "typeface" defined that way, and it's not the definition of a typeface that's been quoted - and accepted - here. A typefaceis a collection of letters, numbers and symbols & so on. Given that definition, "digital typeface" is a misnomer, because they are collections of programs that produce elements of the typeface when used, much like a font is a collection of metal bits that produce elements of a typeface when used. While the program collections in question don't fit properly into either category, they have more in common with fonts than typefaces, and cause fewer glitches in the nomenclature if used that way. <mike -- Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/ Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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