Re: Feta font modifications by Janek

[David Kastrup]

Please don't post fullquotes with comments above.  People can be
expected to use their mail reader or other tools if they really need to
refer to all the original content for some reason.

Instead, just cite what you are referring to and put your comments
below.  It makes for a lot of work for people replying to you if you
think an unsorted full dump of the thread so far is appropriate as a new
mail in a mailing list.

Andrew Bernard <address@hidden> writes:

> Janek Warchoł writes:
>> David Kastrup:
>         
>>>         Looks like we might need something like
>>> <URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_master_fonts> or
>>> whatever is supposed to be used in its lieu instead.
>
>> That sounds awesome!  Yes, it would be great to have this (i didn't
>> even know that there already exist systems that interpolate between
>> two given fonts!).

> Re multiple master fonts, this concept predated OpenType and is no
> longer current.

Except that OpenType does not offer any way to parameterize fonts and/or
interpolate between them.

The "concept predated OpenType", but OpenType did not pick it up.

Anvils predated smartphones, and even though smartphones are now more
prevalent than anvils, that does not mean that they can adequately
replace them.

Though I have to admit I am often tempted to try.

> There are some uses for it in in-house font design - which to some
> extent could include lilypond - but MM fonts are not really offered
> any more, and nobody is developing along those lines.

Sure, that's what "whatever is supposed to be used in its lieu instead"
is about.

> It's more or less an obsolete technology, and could not be recommended
> for lilypond.

The font format may be obsolete, but the parameterization technology
does not seem to have seen a useful successor in interest.

Of course, it has a _predecessor_ in interest in the form of "METAFONT"
getting used for parameterization of fonts across design parameters
(most famously of course the Computer Modern families).  But that's not
really the same as a binary font format supporting parameterization.

-- 
David Kastrup