* fontconfig packaging suggestion
@ 2014-04-03 22:52 Ken Brown
2014-04-04 8:40 ` Corinna Vinschen
0 siblings, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread
From: Ken Brown @ 2014-04-03 22:52 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: cygwin-apps
Yaakov,
There is a problem with having fontconfig include the Windows Fonts
directory in /etc/fonts/fonts.conf. Namely, the font cache for that
directory is very likely to be out of date [*], but most users have no
idea that they need to run fc-cache to keep it up to date. This can
cause slowdowns or worse for applications that use fontconfig. See, for
instance http://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2013-12/threads.html#00246 and
several similar reports that came later.
I propose that fontconfig *not* include the Windows Fonts directory, but
that a new package (perhaps called fontconfig-windows-fonts) be created
that takes over this functionality. This could either be a subpackage
of fontconfig or an independent package, in which case I would be glad
to maintain it.
This package would handle the Windows Fonts directory by creating the
appropriate file in /etc/fonts/conf.d, and it would also provide a
script that calls fc-cache to update the Windows Fonts cache. The
release announcement would warn users that the script should be called
whenever the Windows Fonts directory changed. And I would explicitly
advise emacs-X11 users *not* to install the package unless they really
want to be able to use Windows fonts while running emacs under X.
WDYT?
Ken
[*] This can happen because of a Windows Update, or because software was
added or removed, or because the user knowingly installed or removed fonts.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: fontconfig packaging suggestion
2014-04-03 22:52 fontconfig packaging suggestion Ken Brown
@ 2014-04-04 8:40 ` Corinna Vinschen
2014-04-04 9:08 ` Yaakov (Cygwin/X)
0 siblings, 1 reply; 3+ messages in thread
From: Corinna Vinschen @ 2014-04-04 8:40 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: cygwin-apps
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On Apr 3 18:52, Ken Brown wrote:
> Yaakov,
>
> There is a problem with having fontconfig include the Windows Fonts
> directory in /etc/fonts/fonts.conf. Namely, the font cache for that
> directory is very likely to be out of date [*], but most users have
> no idea that they need to run fc-cache to keep it up to date. This
> can cause slowdowns or worse for applications that use fontconfig.
> See, for instance
> http://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2013-12/threads.html#00246 and several
> similar reports that came later.
>
> I propose that fontconfig *not* include the Windows Fonts directory,
> but that a new package (perhaps called fontconfig-windows-fonts) be
> created that takes over this functionality. This could either be a
> subpackage of fontconfig or an independent package, in which case I
> would be glad to maintain it.
>
> This package would handle the Windows Fonts directory by creating
> the appropriate file in /etc/fonts/conf.d, and it would also provide
> a script that calls fc-cache to update the Windows Fonts cache. The
> release announcement would warn users that the script should be
> called whenever the Windows Fonts directory changed. And I would
> explicitly advise emacs-X11 users *not* to install the package
> unless they really want to be able to use Windows fonts while
> running emacs under X.
>
> WDYT?
I'm not Yaakov, but, may I throw in a dumb idea?
What if fontconfig installs scripts for sh and csh in /etc/profile.d,
which has only one task: It checks if the fc cache is older than the
modification date of the Windows fonts directory. If so, it either
calls fc-cache or, if that takes too long, it simply informs the user
in distinct words that fc-cache needs running.
Would that work? Does it make sense?
Corinna
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^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: fontconfig packaging suggestion
2014-04-04 8:40 ` Corinna Vinschen
@ 2014-04-04 9:08 ` Yaakov (Cygwin/X)
0 siblings, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: Yaakov (Cygwin/X) @ 2014-04-04 9:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: cygwin-apps
On 2014-04-04 03:40, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
> On Apr 3 18:52, Ken Brown wrote:
>> There is a problem with having fontconfig include the Windows Fonts
>> directory in /etc/fonts/fonts.conf. Namely, the font cache for that
>> directory is very likely to be out of date [*], but most users have
>> no idea that they need to run fc-cache to keep it up to date. This
>> can cause slowdowns or worse for applications that use fontconfig.
>> See, for instance
>> http://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2013-12/threads.html#00246 and several
>> similar reports that came later.
>>
>> I propose that fontconfig *not* include the Windows Fonts directory,
>> but that a new package (perhaps called fontconfig-windows-fonts) be
>> created that takes over this functionality. This could either be a
>> subpackage of fontconfig or an independent package, in which case I
>> would be glad to maintain it.
>>
>> This package would handle the Windows Fonts directory by creating
>> the appropriate file in /etc/fonts/conf.d, and it would also provide
>> a script that calls fc-cache to update the Windows Fonts cache. The
>> release announcement would warn users that the script should be
>> called whenever the Windows Fonts directory changed. And I would
>> explicitly advise emacs-X11 users *not* to install the package
>> unless they really want to be able to use Windows fonts while
>> running emacs under X.
>>
>> WDYT?
The concern is definitely valid and I'm considering various options.
> I'm not Yaakov, but, may I throw in a dumb idea?
>
> What if fontconfig installs scripts for sh and csh in /etc/profile.d,
> which has only one task: It checks if the fc cache is older than the
> modification date of the Windows fonts directory. If so, it either
> calls fc-cache or, if that takes too long, it simply informs the user
> in distinct words that fc-cache needs running.
>
> Would that work? Does it make sense?
That's one option, but I'm not sure yet if it covers all possible scenarios.
Yaakov
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
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2014-04-03 22:52 fontconfig packaging suggestion Ken Brown
2014-04-04 8:40 ` Corinna Vinschen
2014-04-04 9:08 ` Yaakov (Cygwin/X)
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