[Fontconfig] Aliases

[John A. Boyd Jr.]

Let me get to the point here.  I used to be able to do the
following:

	> gnome-terminal -font "<font>"

This usage is no longer generally available, as of version
2.4.2.

And why not?

Because fontconfig and related packages don't support this
kind of user-level specification of font (without the kind
of patches I developed), so, I'd imagine, the gnome-terminal
developers decided it was pointless to continue to provide a
capability they couldn't reasonably support.

Now, I must tell you all, before the gnome-terminal developers
gave up on this usage because they couldn't support it, I was able
to do the following (with no changes to gnome-terminal):

	> gnome-terminal -font "fixed semicondensed 10"

Indeed, _I_ can still do this, but I'd guess I'm the only person
using gnome-terminal-2.4.2 who can (with my patch to undo the
omission), and that shouldn't be the case.

No fonts.conf changes here either.  That's configuration, not
usage. I hope the difference is not lost on any of you, but
hope may be all I can do.

Note that "fixed semicondensed 10" is not a name - it's a
semantic description (except for the "10", which should be
something like "10pt").  Whether Ambrose and others can
imagine this usage is not interesting to me - I've already
made the necessary changes, it all works, and I"m using it now.

I would hope that readers of this list could understand the
general point I'm making, but if not, that's OK; I'll just keep
maintaining my own patches for my own use, and the rest of you
can keep posting about the same issues that aren't getting
resolved, because someone or other can't imagine solutions and
doesn't want to respond constructively to anyone who can.

As for me, I think I should unsubscribe from this list.  I
don't want to be the cause of any more rants..

-John

John A. Boyd Jr. wrote:
> 
> I am not trying to foment needless enmity either.  But I would not
> even have joined this mailing list if I did not consider this an
> important issue, beyond just me and beyond just fontconfig.  This
> particular package has become situated in a position where its use
> is all but mandated for the typical user not just of fontconfig,
> but of XFree86 and much of the environment and application
> software that builds on it (e.g., GNOME).  I didn't ask for it to
> be there.  And if I could just as easily get rid of it as patch it,
> believe me, I would do just that, in a heartbeat.
>